Induction of phage production in the lysogenic Escherichia coli by hydroxyurea

1) Hydroxyurea, a reversible DNA synthesis inhibitor, was used to study the mechanism of prophage lambda induction in Escherichia coli K12. Induction of prophage was judged on two criteria: increase of phage-producing cells and loss of colony-forming ability of the cells. 2) Hydroxyurea induced an increase of phage-producing cells only in lysogenic strains known to be inducible with ultraviolet irradiation for prophage development and not in strains such as E. coli K12 (lambdaind-) or E. coli K12 recA (lambda+). 3) When protein synthesis was inhibited, hydroxyurea did not increase phage-producing cells of lysogenic strains; it showed a bacteriocidal effect on lysogenic recA+ strains, but not on nonlysogenic strains. 4) The sensitivity of E. coli K12 recA to hydroxyurea was independent of whether or not the cells were lysogenic. 5) From the results it is suggested that certain steps leading to loss of colony-forming ability (i.e. prophage induction) do not require de novo protein synthesis but require the presence of the host recA+ gene.