Abstract
Sedimentation analysis of phage DNA synthesized in cells infected with P2 head mutant phage under nonpermissive conditions was used to determine which P2 head genes are required for phage DNA maturation in vivo. Five of the six known P2 head genes are required for P2 DNA maturation: genes Q, P, O, N, and M. When head assembly is blocked by a mutation in any one of those genes, P2 DNA accumulates in the form of covalently closed circular molecules. Mutations in the remaining known P2 head gene, L, do not affect phage DNA maturation. In vitro complementation studies indicate that DNA-containing heads which can be completed in vitro to produce infectious phage are synthesized in P2 L − infection. This synthesis of filled heads and normal pattern of DNA maturation in the absence of functional L gene product suggest that the product of P2 gene L functions after DNA encapsulation has already occurred.
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