Heat-inducible reactivation of UV-damaged bacteriophage λ

Abstract

Induction of the SOS response in UV-irradiated bacteria leads to an increase in the survival of an infecting irradiated bacteriophage lambda (Weigle 1953). We report that a similar reactivation of irradiated phage lambda was induced by shifting the culture of recipient bacteria from 30 degrees to 47 degrees C. However, this repair process was nonmutagenic. The amplitude of the phenomenon was increased with the quantity of UV lesions in the phage DNA. It was present despite mutations affecting the SOS response or the heat shock response in the infected strains (recA, lexA, umuC or rpoH mutations respectively). In contrast, the heat-inducible repair process was abolished in uvrA derivatives. Also, pretreatment with chloramphenicol largely enhanced phage reactivation after heat shock. Therefore, it appears that the excision repair mechanism of UV lesions was stimulated both by temperature shift-up and blockage of protein synthesis.