ABSTRACT
This chapter is dedicated to the triumphant of the RNA phages entry into the gene engineering era, when the RNA phage genomes and genes were expressed successfully and the appropriate phage proteins: the coat and read-through A1 proteins, the maturation A and A2 proteins, the phage-specific replicase subunit, and the lysis proteins were studied structurally and functionally in the context of the global molecular biology. The successful beginning of the RNA phage coat-based VLP story is outlined here, since the expression of the coat protein genes in E. coli and yeast species Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia pastoris led to the high-level production of the correctly self-assembled icosahedral capsids that were morphologically and immunologically indistinguishable from virions and paved the way to numerous nanotechnological applications. The tricky gene engineering methodologies used for the generation of the RNA phage mutants and chimeric phages are explained.
