viruses Review Half a Century of Research on Membrane-Containing Bacteriophages: Bringing New Concepts to Modern Virology Sari Mäntynen 1,2, Lotta-Riina Sundberg 1, Hanna M. Oksanen 3,* and Minna M. Poranen 3,* 1 Center of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Department of Biological and Environmental Science and Nanoscience Center, University of Jyväskylä, FI-40014 Jyväskylä, Finland;
[email protected] (S.M.); lotta-riina.sundberg@jyu.fi (L.-R.S.) 2 Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA 3 Molecular and Integrative Biosciences Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland * Correspondence: hanna.oksanen@helsinki.fi (H.M.O.); minna.poranen@helsinki.fi (M.M.P.); Tel.: +358-2941-59104 (H.M.O.); +358-2941-59106 (M.M.P.) Received: 20 December 2018; Accepted: 16 January 2019; Published: 18 January 2019 Abstract: Half a century of research on membrane-containing phages has had a major impact on virology, providing new insights into virus diversity, evolution and ecological importance. The recent revolutionary technical advances in imaging, sequencing and lipid analysis have significantly boosted the depth and volume of knowledge on these viruses. This has resulted in new concepts of virus assembly, understanding of virion stability and dynamics, and the description of novel processes for viral genome packaging and membrane-driven genome delivery to the host. The detailed analyses of such processes have given novel insights into DNA transport across the protein-rich lipid bilayer and the transformation of spherical membrane structures into tubular nanotubes, resulting in the description of unexpectedly dynamic functions of the membrane structures.