Bacteriophage lambda DNA maturation: The functional relationships among the products of genes Nul, A and FI

Abstract

The FI gene of bacteriophage λ functions in head assembly, but its exact role is not well understood. FI mutants are leaky, producing between 0.1 and 0.5 viable particles per infected cell. In order to investigate the function of the FI product (gpFI) in vivo, mutants of λ were isolated that are able to grow in the absence of gpFI. These mutants, called fin (for FI independence) map in the region of gene Nul and the beginning of gene A. Proteins made in cells infected with the fin mutants were labelled with [ 35S]methionine and analysed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. In addition, the levels of activity of the A product were measured in the in vitro DNA packaging assay. As a result of these experiments, the fin mutants can be classified in two groups. Upon infection, fin mutants of one group selectively produce three to fivefold more gpA than do wild-type phage fin mutants of the second group do not overproduce any λ late gene product detectable by the autoradiographic technique. gpA overproducers can also be isolated by selecting for λ Aam Wam phages that can plate on a weak suII cell strain. The mutation responsible for this pseudoreversion is called Aop and maps in the Nu1-A region. Aop is also a fin mutation, since its presence in λ FI − enables it to plate on non-permissive hosts. Therefore, it seems that one condition sufficient for normal growth of FI − phage is the overproduction of gpA. The nature of the fin mutations that do not result in gpA overproduction is discussed.