8] In vivo genetic engineering with bacteriophage Mu

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses in vivo genetic engineering with bacteriophage Mu. Bacteriophage Mu was discovered as a temperate phage, which upon lysogenization, generated mutations in the host with a high frequency. Phage Mu is a temperate phage with a linear, double-stranded DNA genome. Like other temperate phages, when Mu infects a sensitive host it can enter either the lytic cycle or the lysogenic state. The difference between Mu and other temperate phages is that the Mu genome integrates in the host chromosome whether it enters the lytic cycle or the lysogenic state. Even Mu DNA isolated from phage particles is found in an integrated state, joined to segments of the host chromosome. Mu has become the subject of study of several groups and the starting material for a series of derivatives and strategies for in vivo genetic engineering. The chapter reviews Mu biology, highlighting the particular features of phage Mu that have been crucial for the development of the different tools and techniques for in vivo engineering..