ISSN:
1365-2958
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
Notes:
We have made a derivative of bacteriophage λ that makes no OOP antisense RNA. The mutant phage carries a point mutation that inactivates the OOP promoter, po. The phages λ+ and λp o- have identical plaque morphologies, one-step growth curves, and frequencies of lysogenization of a sensitive host. OOP RNA synthesis is weakly repressed by the Escherichia coli LexA protein. Consonant with this inducibility of OOP RNA synthesis by ultraviolet light, we find a two-fold greater phage burst following ultraviolet induction of a λ+ than of a λp o− prophage. In λ+ infections, OOP RNA causes two cleavage events in dl mRNA: one is in the 3′ -end of the coding region, and the second is in the intercistronic region between the dl and O genes. The dl gene fragments are subject to additional hydrolytic events, and dl mRNA levels are several-fold lower in λ+ than in λp o- infections late in the infection cycle. However, O mRNA levels are almost unaffected by the P o- mutation.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2958.1991.tb01900.x
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