Nucleotide sequence at the termini of the DNA of Streptococcus pneumoniae phage Cp-1

The 5' ends of Cp-1 DNA, which have a covalently linked terminal protein, can be partially unblocked by treatment with 1 M NaOH (E. Garcia, A. Gomez, C. Ronda, C. Escarmis, and R. Lopez (1983) Virology 128, 92-104) and labeled with polynucleotide kinase and [gamma-32P]ATP. The sequence of the first 444 and 520 nucleotides at the termini of Cp-1 DNA has been determined. A 236-nucleotide-long inverted terminal repeat was found and, in addition, the 116 nucleotides following the repeat show 93% homology. The first 352 nucleotides at both ends have an adenine plus thymine content of 75%. More than 50% of the nucleotides of the sequenced regions are involved in repeats of a minimum of 8 nucleotides. Three promoter-like sequences were also found at each end of Cp-1 DNA.