Genetic Exclusion in Bacteriophage T4.
Abstract
Genetic exclusion in phage T4 is the prime responsibility of the imm immunity and speckle genes. The map region containing imm does not allow sufficient bps to encode for proteins the size reported for the imm gp. After assaying 30 mutants of the genes adjacent to imm, 7 in gene 42 that were defective in the imm phenotype. Upon reverting amNG411 (42), the mutant most defective exclusion, for its gene 42 phenotype the exclusion phenotype also changed. When assayed in UGA suppressor hosts, imm+ phage showed a decreased exclusion ability indicating that an opal codon was involved in production of the functional imm gp. I concluded that imm and gene 42 overlap in an out-of-phase orientation with the involvement of an opal readthrough. this overlap has implications in the genetic regulation of this region. This work links molecular genetics to the ecological concept of competition and provides insights into the function and the evolutionary significance of the competition cluster genes. The competition cluster encodes fundamental adaptive strategies found universally in nature.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1987
- Accession Number
- ADA186463
Entities
People
- John W. Obringer
Organizations
- Air Force Institute of Technology