The Mu gem operon: its role in gene expression, recombination and cell cycle

Two genes, gemA and gemB, belong to the gem operon located in the semi-essential early region of bacteriophage Mu. The product of gemA modulates the expression of various host genes, including cell division and DNA replication genes. In addition, GemA is also responsible for decreasing host DNA gyrase activity and for DNA relaxation. The product of gemB is involved in Mu late gene transcriptional transactivation. Phage mutants such as Mu gem2ts have strong effects on the bacterial host: i) infected bacteria become unable to grow in minimal synthetic medium and behave phenotypically as relA- mutants; ii) survivors of the infection are re-programmed in their cell cycles, with synchronous cell divisions, cyclical waves of DNA relaxation and recoiling and; iii) Mu gem2ts prophages excise precisely their DNA from the initial integration site and re-integrate in other non-randomly distributed sites. Neither the phage transposase nor the host RecA protein are implicated in this process.