Bacteriophages are being rediscovered as potent agents for medical and industrial applications. However, finding a suitable phage relies on numerous factors, including host specificity, burst size, and infection cycle. The host range of a phage is, besides phage defense systems, initially determined by the recognition and attachment of receptor-binding proteins (RBPs) to the target receptors of susceptible bacteria. RBPs include tail (or occasionally head) fibers and tailspikes. Owing to the potential flexibility and heterogeneity of these structures, they are often overlooked during structural studies. Recent advances in cryo-electron microscopy studies and computational approaches have begun to unravel their structural and fundamental mechanisms during phage infection. In this review, we discuss the current state of research on different phage tail and head fibers, spike models, and molecular mechanisms. These details may facilitate the manipulation of phage-host specificity, which in turn will have important implications for science and society.

噬菌体被重新发现为医疗和工业应用的有效试剂。然而，找到合适的噬菌体取决于许多因素，包括宿主特异性、爆发大小和感染周期。除了噬菌体防御系统之外，噬菌体的宿主范围最初是通过受体结合蛋白（RBP）对易感细菌的靶受体的识别和附着来确定的。RBP 包括尾部（或有时是头部）纤维和尾刺。由于这些结构潜在的灵活性和异质性，它们在结构研究中经常被忽视。冷冻电子显微镜研究和计算方法的最新进展已经开始揭示噬菌体感染过程中的结构和基本机制。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了不同噬菌体尾部和头部纤维、刺突模型和分子机制的研究现状。这些细节可能有助于操纵噬菌体宿主特异性，这反过来将对科学和社会产生重要影响。