Temperature-induced DNA density transition in phage λ capsid revealed by neutron scattering

Lund University researchers used contrast-matching small-angle neutron scattering to show that DNA packaged in the phage λ capsid undergoes a density and volume transition in the core as temperature rises from 20 °C to 40 °C, close to the physiological temperature of infection (about 37 °C). The core DNA becomes less dense with fewer packing defects and more mobile, which the authors link to rapid genome ejection into a host cell.