Abstract
Satellite phage P4 directs the capsid proteins of its helper phage, P2, to form a head which is only one-third the size of the normal P2 head. The P2 head contains a genome of molecular weight 22 × 106, while the small P4 head contains a genome with a molecular weight of only 7 × 106. We have used in vitro DNA packaging to test whether P2 and P4 phage head sizes are determined by DNA size.
The small DNA of satellite phage P4 added to a P2-infected cell extract was packaged primarily into particles containing three copies of the P4 genome. This process occurred with approximately the same efficiency as P2 DNA packaging in the same cell extract. In contrast, the large DNA of P2 was packaged 300-fold less efficiently than the small DNA of P4 in an extract derived from P4-infected, P2-lysogenic cells. These results suggest that DNA size is not sufficient to determine head size. The results are compatible with DNA packaging via the filling of preformed empty capsids.
Keywords: bacteriophage P4, bacteriophage P2, morphogenesis, DNA condensation
Full text
PDF![2367](https://cdn.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/blobs/24d1/388456/3fe53f6dd361/pnas00059-0217.png)
![2368](https://cdn.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/blobs/24d1/388456/9b9b9df52490/pnas00059-0218.png)
![2369](https://cdn.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/blobs/24d1/388456/11fcca29311d/pnas00059-0219.png)
![2370](https://cdn.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/blobs/24d1/388456/1b25c4af45aa/pnas00059-0220.png)
![2371](https://cdn.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/blobs/24d1/388456/81fe355531bc/pnas00059-0221.png)
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- BENZER S. Resistance to ultraviolet light as an index to the reproduction of bacteriophage. J Bacteriol. 1952 Jan;63(1):59–72. doi: 10.1128/jb.63.1.59-72.1952. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- BERTANI G. Studies on lysogenesis. I. The mode of phage liberation by lysogenic Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1951 Sep;62(3):293–300. doi: 10.1128/jb.62.3.293-300.1951. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- BERTANI G., WEIGLE J. J. Host controlled variation in bacterial viruses. J Bacteriol. 1953 Feb;65(2):113–121. doi: 10.1128/jb.65.2.113-121.1953. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- BERTANI L. E. The effect of the inhibition of protein synthesis on the establishment of lysogeny. Virology. 1957 Aug;4(1):53–71. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(57)90043-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Chattoraj D. K., Inman R. B. Position of two deletion mutations on the physical map of bacteriophage P2. J Mol Biol. 1972 May 28;66(3):423–434. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(72)90424-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gelfand D. H., Hayashi M. Electrophoretic characterization of phiX174-specific proteins. J Mol Biol. 1969 Sep 28;44(3):501–516. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(69)90376-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gibbs W., Goldstein R. N., Wiener R., Lindqvist B., Calendar R. Satellite bacteriophage P4: characterization of mutants in two essential genes. Virology. 1973 May;53(1):24–39. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(73)90462-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Inman R. B., Schnös M., Simon L. D., Six E. W., Walker D. H., Jr Some morphological properties of P4 bacteriophage and P4 DNA. Virology. 1971 Apr;44(1):67–72. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(71)90153-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kaiser D., Masuda T. In vitro assembly of bacteriophage Lambda heads. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1973 Jan;70(1):260–264. doi: 10.1073/pnas.70.1.260. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lengyel J. A., Goldstein R. N., Marsh M., Sunshine M. G., Calendar R. Bacteriophage P2 head morphogenesis: cleavage of the major capsid protein. Virology. 1973 May;53(1):1–23. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(73)90461-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lindahl G. On the control of transcription in bacteriophage P2. Virology. 1971 Dec;46(3):620–633. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(71)90065-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lindqvist B. H., Sinsheimer R. L. Process of infection with bacteriophage phi-X174. XIV. Studies on macromolecular synthesis during infection with a lysis-defective mutant. J Mol Biol. 1967 Aug 28;28(1):87–94. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(67)80079-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lindqvist B. H., Six E. W. Replication of bacteriophage P4 DNA in a nonlysogenic host. Virology. 1971 Jan;43(1):1–7. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(71)90218-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Luftig R. B., Wood W. B., Okinaka R. Bacteriophage T4 head morphogenesis. On the nature of gene 49-defective heads and their role as intermediates. J Mol Biol. 1971 May 14;57(3):555–573. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(71)90109-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Mandel M. Infectivity of phage P2 DNA in presence of helper phage. Mol Gen Genet. 1967;99(1):88–96. doi: 10.1007/BF00306461. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Sasaki I., Bertani G. Growth abnormalities in Hfr derivatives of Escherichia coli strain C. J Gen Microbiol. 1965 Sep;40(3):365–376. doi: 10.1099/00221287-40-3-365. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Sironi G. Mutants of Escherichia coli unable to be lysogenized by the temperate bacteriophage P2. Virology. 1969 Feb;37(2):163–176. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(69)90196-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Streisinger G., Emrich J., Stahl M. M. Chromosome structure in phage t4, iii. Terminal redundancy and length determination. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1967 Feb;57(2):292–295. doi: 10.1073/pnas.57.2.292. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Sunshine M. G., Thorn M., Gibbs W., Calendar R., Kelly B. P2 phage amber mutants: characterization by use of a polarity suppressor. Virology. 1971 Dec;46(3):691–702. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(71)90071-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wang J. C., Martin K. V., Calendar R. On the sequence similarity of the cohesive ends of coliphage P4, P2, and 186 deoxyribonucleic acid. Biochemistry. 1973 May 22;12(11):2119–2123. doi: 10.1021/bi00735a016. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]