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Glite Dictionary
🪛 A support plate 🦷 A denture base 🦠 A virus connector
baseplate

baseplate

9.4
A plate at the end of a virus tail that helps it attach to bacteria
  • noun
  • /ˈbeɪsˌpleɪt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : base de bacteriófago
  • The baseplate of the bacteriophage helps it attach to the bacterial cell and inject its genetic material.

Examples

  • Scientists studied the baseplate of the virus to better understand how it penetrates host cells.

  • The structure of the baseplate is crucial for the bacteriophage's ability to infect different strains of bacteria.

  • They also isolated the chlorosome baseplate protein that binds bacteriochlorophyll a.

    Academic text (2018)

Surface Forms

baseplate singular
baseplates plural

Morphology

baseplate = base + plate (semi-transparent) = base + plate

The compound form is clear ('base' + 'plate'), but the biological role and specialized structure in bacteriophages is technical and may not be predictable to a general learner.

Etymology

Baseplate comes from base ('bottom') and plate ('flat piece'). In a bacteriophage, a virus that attacks bacteria, it works like a landing pad at the tail end to help the virus attach to and get into a bacterial cell, so the baseplate is the structure that enables attachment and entry.