Abstract
Host DNA synthesis normally ceases very soon after bacteriophage T4 infection. However, cells infected with T4 gene 30 (DNA ligase) mutants resume synthesis of unstable host DNA during the subsequent degradation to acid-soluble nucleotides. Mutations in T4 genes 46 or 47 somewhat increase the stability of this E. coli DNA and permit its properties to be studied. It is double-stranded and its synthesis depends not only on the host's polA gene product (DNA polymerase I) but also on proteins synthesized after viral infection. The unstable E. coli DNA synthesis can occur concurrently with T4 DNA replication but does not require the products of T4 late genes or of the early genes 32, 41, 43, 44, or 45. We postulate that the E. coli DNA synthesis constitutes an ill-fated attempt to repair T4-induced degradation of host DNA and that the T4-induced DNA ligase has a role in host DNA degradation.
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