Bukhari, A. I., Ambrosio, L. (February 1978) The invertible segment of bacteriophage Mu DNA determines the adsorption properties of Mu particles. Nature, 271 (5645). pp. 575-7. ISSN 0028-0836 (Print)0028-0836 (Linking)
Abstract
Interest in bacteriophage Mu stems from the highly promiscuous insertion of its DNA into the genome of its host bacterium Escherichia coli (see ref. 1 for review). There are two characterstic features of Mu DNA: first, mature Mu DNA contains heterogeneous host sequences at both ends2,3, and second, near the right end, the S end, of Mu DNA there is a 3,000 base pair sequence that can undergo inversion. The structure of Mu DNA is diagrammed in Fig. 1. The invertible sequence, called the G segment, is remarkable in that it is also found in bacteriophage P1 (ref. 4). The inversion of the G segment in Mu occurs in the prophage state and is independent of the recA function of the host5. According to Hsu and Davidson6, the inversion occurs by recombination between identical but inverted sequences of about 50 base pairs flanking the G segment. Allet and Bukhari7 have presented evidence that a Mu function, located within or close to the G segment, is required for the inversion reaction. When Mu particles are grown by induction of a lysogen, about half of the particles contain DNA with one orientation (referred to as the + or flip orientation) and the rest of the particles have the G segment in the reverse orientation (the − or flop orientation). However, when Mu particles are grown by infection, almost all of the particles contain DNA with the flip orientation. The predominance of the flip orientation is obtained even if the phage lysate used for infection contained equal numbers of the flip and the flop orientations. We show here that the predominance of the flip orientation after infection results from the inability of the flop containing particles to adsorb properly to the bacterial cells.
| Item Type: | Paper |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Adsorption Base Sequence Coliphages/*genetics DNA Replication DNA, Viral/*physiology Virus Replication |
| Subjects: | organs, tissues, organelles, cell types and functions > cell types and functions > cell types > bacteriophage organs, tissues, organelles, cell types and functions > cell types and functions > cell types > bacteriophage organs, tissues, organelles, cell types and functions > cell types and functions > cell types > bacteriophage |
| CSHL Authors: | |
| Communities: | CSHL labs |
| Depositing User: | Matt Covey |
| Date: | 9 February 1978 |
| Date Deposited: | 24 Aug 2016 20:01 |
| Last Modified: | 24 Aug 2016 20:01 |
| Related URLs: | |
| URI: | https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/33331 |
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