In phage λ, cos is a recombinator in the red pathway

Abstract

Among λ particles carrying chromosomes that have failed to replicate during a lytic cycle cross there is a high frequency of Red-mediated recombination near the right-hand end. Earlier work has shown that this recombination is dependent on cos ( cohesive end site), the packaging origin of λ. In contrast to the prediction of the break-copy model proposed earlier, we find a high recombination rate near cos even when only one of the two participating parents has a functional cos at that locus. The exchange is accompanied by loss of the stimulating cos in the recombination product, irrespective of the marker configurations: a + b + cos − rather than a + b + cos + is produced in the cross a + b − cos − × a − b + cos + as well as in the cross a + b − cos + × a − b + cos −. Further analyses of these and earlier data allow the formulation of a detailed model for cos-stimulated, Red-mediated genetic exchange. In this model, cos stimulates exchange by virtue of being a double-strand cut site. The model has several features like that proposed for yeast. This role of cos in the Red pathway contrasts with the role of cos in the RecBC pathway, in which cos serves as an entry site for a recombinase that stimulates exchanges far from cos.