Summary
Phage λdthr c carries the entire threonine operon of E. coli K12 and can complement all known thrA, thrB and thC mutations. Threonine plus isoleucine repress the threonine operon carried by the phage in either the vegetative or the prophage form. Density gradient analysis of λdthr c demonstrates that this phage is defective and less dense than the parental phage λcI857 S7. Marker rescue experiments indicate that the bacterial threonine operon replaces λ genes coding for late functions of the phage. However, λdthr c retains all the genes necessary for λ head biosynthesis. In vitro complementation between λ tails and λ heads produced by λdthr c has been demonstrated.
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Communicated by R. Devoret
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Thèze, J., Margarita, D. Characterization of a defective λ bacteriophage transducing the threonine operon of Escherichia coli K12. Molec. Gen. Genet. 132, 41–48 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00268229
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00268229