Abstract
A quantitative assay for the N protein of bacteriophage λ has been used to study the in vivo regulation of N gene expression. The assay makes use of the observation that in a cell-free protein-synthesizing system from Escherichia coli programmed with λN- DNA the λ endolysin is made only if N protein is added to the reaction.
The rate of synthesis of N protein in vivo is negatively controlled by the products of the CI and tof genes of the phage. Furthermore, N protein activity is extremely unstable in vivo. During normal cell growth at 35°, the half-life of N protein is about 2 min.
Keywords: N protein assay, in vitro endolysin synthesis, tof gene control, functionally unstable protein
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Selected References
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