Summary
The purpose of this study was to compare the transcriptional effects of two mutations, nin5 and byp, which map between genes P and Q and allow phage λ to grow in the absence of the N gene product. Presumably, these mutations permit the transcription to proceed through gene Q by eliminating a hypothetical transcriptional terminator, t R2, which is supposed to be suppressed by the N product. Mutation byp might not be fully efficient in eliminating the t R2 terminator, since an additional promoter-creating mutation, c17 in the y region, is required to make it effective, whereas the nin5 deletion acts as an N-bypass even in the absence of the c17 mutation.
To compare the effects of nin5 and byp, three singly lysogenic strains W3350(λc17P −), W3350(λc17P −nin5Q−) and W3350(λc17P −bypQ−) were constructed, and their constitutive, c17-promoted, rightward transcription was analyzed in the noninduced prophage state, when the control genes N, P and Q were inactive, either repressed or mutated. Comparison of transcription in three consecutive regions, y-O-P, Q-S-R and A-J, leads to following conclusions. (1) The λc17P -lysogen transcription is restricted to the first, c17-proximal region confirming the presence of the t R2 terminator. (2) Both the nin5 and byp lysogens permit the transcription to proceed into the Q-S-R region suggesting that these mutations eliminate the t R2 terminator. (3) Very little if any transcription was observed in the A-J region suggesting a presence of some transcriptional block beyond gene Q. (4) Transcription in the Q-S-R region of the nin5 lysogen was three times higher than that for the byp lysogen, which might explain why the nin5 mutants do not require the auxiliary c17 promoter. (5) Surprisingly, transcription of the y-O-P region in nin5 lysogens is higher than in byp lysogens, despite the fact that the nin5 deletion removes about half of the y-O-P region. Thus, the detailed mechanism of the augmented Q transcription in nin5 lysogens remains obscure.
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Mark, KK. Effect of the N-bypass mutations nin and byp on the rightward transcription in coliphage lambda. Molec. Gen. Genet. 124, 291–304 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00267659
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00267659