Extent of the DNA sequence required in integration of staphylococcal bacteriophage L54a

Abstract

We characterized the minimum length of the DNA sequence of the attachment sites involved in the integrative recombination of staphylococcal bacteriophage L54a. A DNA fragment carrying the functional viral attachment site (attP) or the bacterial attachment site (attB) was sequentially trimmed, recloned, and tested for integrative recombination in vivo. The size of the functional attP site was at least 228 base pairs (bp) but no more than 235 bp. The left endpoint of the attP site was located to between positions -142 and -140, whereas the right endpoint was located to between positions +86 and +93 with respect to the center of the core sequence. The attB site was located to within a 27-bp sequence, from position -15 to +12, which included the 18-bp core sequence.