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Bone Marrow-derived Macrophage Production

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Bacteriophage lambda PaPa: not the mother of all lambda phages.

R W Hendrix¹, R L Duda

¹Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, PA 15260.

Science (New York, N.Y.)

|November 13, 1992

Summary

The original bacteriophage lambda (Ur-lambda) has tail fibers absent in the lab strain (lambda wild type), due to a frameshift mutation. These fibers enhance Ur-lambda

Area of Science:

Microbiology
Molecular Biology
Virology

Background:

The common laboratory strain of bacteriophage lambda, lambda wild type (or lambda PaPa), differs from the original isolate, Ur-lambda.
Lambda wild type possesses a frameshift mutation compared to Ur-lambda, affecting its virion structure and function.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the structural and functional differences between Ur-lambda and lambda wild type bacteriophages.
To identify the genetic basis for the presence of tail fibers in Ur-lambda virions.

Main Methods:

Comparative analysis of bacteriophage lambda strains (Ur-lambda and lambda wild type).
Genetic analysis to identify genes responsible for tail fiber production and assembly.

Main Results:

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Ur-lambda virions possess thin, jointed tail fibers, which are absent in lambda wild type.
Two novel proteins, encoded by the stf and tfa genes, constitute the Ur-lambda tail fibers.
The stf gene is disrupted by the frameshift mutation in lambda wild type; the tfa gene is involved in tail fiber assembly.
Ur-lambda exhibits expanded receptor specificity and faster adsorption to Escherichia coli cells compared to lambda wild type.

Conclusions:

The frameshift mutation in lambda wild type disrupts the genes responsible for tail fiber production, leading to their absence.
The stf and tfa gene products are essential for Ur-lambda tail fiber formation and function.
Ur-lambda's tail fibers contribute to its enhanced receptor specificity and adsorption rate to Escherichia coli.