Bacteriophage SPP1 polypeptides synthesized in infected minicells and in vitro

Minicells produced by B. subtilis CU403divIVB1 and infected by SPP1 synthesize at least 46 polypeptides which can be separated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. These polypeptides represent the expression of 86% of the SPP1 genome's coding capacity. Infection of minicells by sus mutants and deletion mutants of SPP1 has permitted a correlation of genetic location with gene product and has shown that SPP1 normally synthesizes at least 8 non-essential polypeptides. Restriction fragments of SPP1 produced by EcoRI digestion of SPP1 DNA have been purified and used as template DNA in a coupled transcription/translation system derived from E. coli to determine the polypeptides encoded by the individual fragments. SPP1 expression in minicells differs from SPP1 expression in nucleated cells (Esche, 1975) in that late syntheses are not dependent on phage DNA replication in infected minicells.