Construction and properties of a chimeric bacteriophage lysis gene |
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Authors: | Robin E Harkness Werner Lubitz |
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Institution: | Institut für Genetik und Mikrobiologie, University of Munich, Munich, F.R.G. |
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Abstract: | Abstract The genomes of DNA phage ΦX174 and of RNA phage MS2 each encode a single lysis protein, E protein and L protein, respectively. Based on the known DNA and protein sequences, and with the aid of structural predictions of the proteins, a chimeric gene was constructed. The resulting protein was composed of the N-terminal sequence of E protein and the C-terminal sequence of L protein. The truncated E and L polypeptides used in this construction were functionally inactive. However, the chimeric gene product had very high lysis-inducing activity. This construction is an example which could be extended to the engineering of other lysis proteins designed with specific biotechnological processes in mind. |
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Keywords: | Phage ΦX174 Phage MS2 Protein engineering Lysis bacterial |
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