JB IAI Online 2003
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ukita, T.
Right arrow Articles by Ikeda, H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Ukita, T.
Right arrow Articles by Ikeda, H.

J. Bacteriol., Apr 1996, 2362-2367, Vol 178, No. 8
Copyright © 1996, American Society for Microbiology

Role of the recJ gene product in UV-induced illegitimate recombination at the hotspot

T Ukita and H Ikeda
Department of Molecular Biology, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Japan.

Illegitimate recombination between a prophage and adjacent bacterial DNA is the first step in the formation of specialized transducing phage. Such recombination is rare, but it is greatly enhanced by UV irradiation. We studied the mechanism of UV-induced illegitimate recombination by examining the effect of rec mutations on the frequency of lambda bio transducing phage and found that an Escherichia coli recJ mutation reduces it by 3- to 10-fold. In addition, the recombination hotspot, which accounts for approximately 60% of lambda bio transducing phages in wild-type bacteria, was not detected in the recJ mutant. Introduction of a RecJ overexpression plasmid into the recJ mutant recovered the recombination at the hotspot. These results indicate that the RecJ protein preferentially stimulates illegitimate recombination at the hotspot. Both the hotspot and the non- hotspot sites have short regions of homology, but only the hotspot sites contain common direct- repeat sequences. We propose a model based on the 5'-3' exonuclease activity of RecJ to explain the involvement of this protein in illegitimate recombination at the hotspot.


This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
Appl. Environ. Microbiol. Infect. Immun. Eukaryot. Cell
Mol. Cell. Biol. J. Virol. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev.
ALL ASM JOURNALS

Copyright © 1996 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.