Expression of the gin and mom genes of bacteriophage Mu

Abstract

The gin and mom genes are located in the rightmost 1.6-kb segment, designated the β segment, of bacteriophage Mu DNA. The gin gene is responsible for the inversion of the G segment of Mu, whereas the mom gene is involved in an unusual modification of the DNA. We have analyzed recombinant plasmids carrying one or both ends of Mu DNA for the expression of the Gin and Mom functions. The Gin protein and the presumptive Mom protein are not always detected in minicells, even though the plasmids being tested have the gin- and mom-containing segment of Mu DNA. However, some plasmids, in which the right end segment of Mu DNA is confined to the 1.6-kb β segment, do give rise to these gene products in minicells. It seems that synthesis of the Gin and Mom proteins is inhibited in minicells, but this inhibition is lifted if most of the DNA to the left of the β segment is eliminated from the plasmids. The most prominent Mu product detected in minicells is a 23–25-kDal polypeptide, termed here the ζ (zeta) protein. The function of the ζ protein remains unknown. In vitro transcription of Mu DNA with purified Escherichia coli RNA polymerase is limited to only two regions of the genome. The early region of Mu DNA is transcribed at a relatively high efficiency, whereas the β region is transcribed at a low efficiency. This low-efficiency transcription appears to be specific for the gin gene; the mom gene transcript cannot be detected.