Rho-dependent transcription termination of a bacterial operon is antagonized by an extrachromosomal gene product

The psu gene product of "phasmid" (phage-plasmid) P4 acts as a transcription antitermination factor in trans and in cis, respectively, within the morphogenic operons of its P2 phage helper during lytic viral development and on P4 itself during the establishment stage of its alternative mode of propagation as a plasmid. Here we show that psu also antagonizes activity of the Escherichia coli transcription termination factor rho at the terminator of the trp operon. Such a finding provides to our knowledge the first direct evidence for antitermination activity at a known rho-dependent site by the psu gene product. It also reveals an example of an extrachromosomal gene product that acts on specific sites of three different genomes to regulate expression of unlinked families of genes.