Some Acridine-Resistant Mutations of Bacteriophage T4d

Three new 9-aminoacridine (9AA) resistant mutations of bacteriophage T4D have been isolated and characterized. Two of the mutations, rs and rc, have identical patterns of acridine resistance, but they map on opposite sides of the rII region. In addition, rs has an effect on the plaque morphology of r mutations, whereas rc does not. The third mutation, ama, maps very close to rs but exhibits a different pattern of resistance to 9AA. None of the three is resistant to acridines by virtue of reduced permeability. Taken together with other mutations that have been previously characterized, these new mutations permit us to set the minimum number of acridine-sensitive processes in T4 development at four.     

Variations in Genetic Recombination Due to Amber Mutations in T4D Bacteriophage

Recombination experiments were performed to assess the affect of amber mutations in 12 genes of T4D bacteriophage on genetic recombination. Crosses were performed in various suppressor-containing bacterial hosts to permit the production of progeny phage. Amber mutations in genes 32, 46, and 47 caused decreased recombination, amber mutations in genes 30, 41, 42, 43, 56, 61, and 62 caused increased recombination, whereas mutations in genes 63 and 37 showed no demonstrable effect on recombination.     

The Genetic Constitution of Tandem Duplications of the rII of Bacteriophage T4d

Methods for genetically mapping the end points of tandem duplications of the rII region of bacteriophage T4D are presented. Analysis of ten duplications indicates (1) that the position of duplication end points and therefore the length of the duplicated segment differ in strains of independent origin; (2) that there is a direct relationship between segregation frequency and length; (3) that segregation is more frequent than expected on the basis of standard genetic mapping; and (4) that while duplications frequently include non-rII genetic material, frequently they do not include the entire rII region. The duplications studied range from less than two to about five cistrons in length.     

Region-Specific Recombination in Phage T4. III. the Effect of Host Mutations on Glucosylation-Dependent Recombination in Bacteriophage T4d

Mutations in the Escherichia coli genes recK, recL and (probably) uvrE and polA increase special (glucosylation-dependent), but not general recombination in bactriophage T4D.     

Intragenic Complementation by Gene 42 Amber Mutations of Bacteriophage T4

Phage T4 amber mutants defective in gene 42 (dCMP hydroxymethylase) were shown by in vivo and in vitro experiments to participate in both positive and negative intragenic complementation. This argues that incomplete polypeptide chains can participate in subunit interaction.     

Genetic and Immunological Studies of Bacteriophage T4 Thymidylate Synthetase

Thymidylate synthetase, which appears after infection of Escherichia coli with bacteriophage T4, has been partially purified. The phage enzyme is immunologically distinct from the host enzyme and has a molecular weight of 50,000 in comparison to 68,000 for the host enzyme. A system has been developed to characterize T4 td mutants previously known to have impaired expression of phage thymidylate synthetase. For this system, an E. coli host lacking thymidylate synthetase was isolated. Known genetic suppressors were transduced into this host. The resulting isogenic hosts were infected with phage T4 td mutants. The specific activities and amounts of cross-reacting material induced by several different types of phage mutants under conditions of suppression or non-suppression have been examined. The results show that the phage carries the structural gene specifying the thymidylate synthetase which appears after phage infection, and that the combination of plaque morphology, enzyme activity assays, and an assay for immunologically cross-reacting material provides a means for identifying true amber mutants of the phage gene.     

Mutator Mutations in Bacteriophage T4 Gene 42 (Dhmc Hydroxymethylase)

Temperature-sensitive mutations of bacteriophage T4 gene 42 produce diverse effects upon spontaneous mutation rates. G:C → A:T transition rates are increased, often strongly; frameshift mutation rates are weakly increased; A:T → G:C transition rates (and perhaps also A:T → Py:Pu transversion rates) are decreased; and one G:C → Py:Pu transversion rate is also decreased. These results, together with certain interactions between gene-42 mutator effects and both base analogue mutagenesis and the viral error-prone repair system, suggest that the dHMC hydroxymethylase coded by gene 42 affects mutation rates in a more complex manner than by the simple regulation of the concentration of the DNA precursor dHMCTP.     

Isolation and Characterization of Conditional Alleles of Bacteriophage T4 Genes uvsX and uvsY

The bacteriophage T4 uvsW, uvsX and uvsY gene functions are required for wild-type levels of recombination and for normal survival and mutagenesis after treatments with ultraviolet (UV) and ionizing radiations. The ability of uvsX and uvsY mutations to suppress the lethality of gene 49 mutations was used to select temperature-sensitive and amber alleles of these two genes. (uvsW mutations do not suppress gene 49 mutations.) A simple and powerful complementation test was developed to assist in assigning uvs mutations to genes. The amber alleles of uvsX and uvsY behave as simple null alleles, fully suppressing a gene 49 defect, enhancing UV killing and abolishing UV mutagenesis. However, the properties of the ts alleles of uvsX and uvsY demonstrated that suppression of a gene 49 defect, sensitivity to UV-induced inactivation and UV mutability can be partially uncoupled. These results prompt the hypothesis that radiation mutagenesis occurs during DNA chain elongation past template damage within a recombinational intermediate rather than within a conventional replication fork.     

Genetic Map of Bacteriophage T3

About 200 amber mutants of phage T3 were found to lie in 14 different genes. These genes are homologous to known T7 genes. The genetic map of T3 is very similar to that of T7.