Chapter: Genetics and Molecular Biology: Lambda Phage Integration and Excision
Properties of the int and xis Gene Products
Properties
of the int and xis Gene Products
How many
phage-encoded proteins are required for integration and excision? If Int and
Xis proteins will function in trans,
then complemen-tation tests can be performed to determine the number of int genes and the number of xis genes carried on the phage.
Experiments showed that the Int protein of one phage will indeed help another
phage integrate, for cells coinfected with a λint mutant
and a heteroimmune λimm434 phage
yield some lambda lysogens in addition to λimm434 lysogens
and
double lysogens. In contrast, coinfection of cells
with two different λint mutants does not yield lysogens
at the frequencies normally observed for complementation. All the int mutations tested therefore must lie
in
the same gene. Analogous experiments with xis mutants show that they too are
confined to a single gene.
Int and xis mutations
are not complemented by most phage otherthan lambda. Although φ21 possesses its own Int and Xis proteins, these do
not complement lambda int or xis mutants. Thus, int and xis can be
phage-specific.
Related Topics