JB
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
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 arrowReprints and Permissions
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 Christie, G. E.
Right arrow Articles by Goodwin, T. S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Christie, G. E.
Right arrow Articles by Goodwin, T. S.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, December 2002, p. 6522-6531, Vol. 184, No. 23
0021-9193/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.184.23.6522-6531.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Programmed Translational Frameshift in the Bacteriophage P2 FETUD Tail Gene Operon

Gail E. Christie,* Louise M. Temple,{dagger} Becky A. Bartlett, and Tina S. Goodwin

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 23298-0678

Received 20 June 2002/ Accepted 6 September 2002

The major structural components of the P2 contractile tail are encoded in the FETUD tail gene operon. The sequences of genes FI and FII, encoding the major tail sheath and tail tube proteins, have been reported previously (L. M. Temple, S. L. Forsburg, R. Calendar, and G. E. Christie, Virology 181:353-358, 1991). Sequence analysis of the remainder of this operon and the locations of amber mutations Eam30, Tam5, Tam64, Tam215, Uam25, Uam77, Uam92, and Dam6 and missense mutation Ets55 identified the coding regions for genes E, T, U, and D, completing the sequence determination of the P2 genome. Inspection of the DNA sequence revealed a new open reading frame overlapping the end of the essential tail gene E. Lack of an apparent translation initiation site and identification of a putative sequence for a programmed translational frameshift within the E gene suggested that this new reading frame (E') might be translated as an extension of gene E, following a -1 translational frameshift. Complementation analysis demonstrated that E' was essential for P2 lytic growth. Analysis of fusion polypeptides verified that this reading frame was translated as a -1 frameshift extension of gpE, with a frequency of approximately 10%. The arrangement of these two genes within the tail gene cluster of phage P2 and their coupling via a translational frameshift appears to be conserved among P2-related phages. This arrangement shows a striking parallel to the organization in the tail gene cluster of phage lambda, despite a lack of amino acid sequence similarity between the tail gene products of these phage families.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Virginia Commonwealth University, P.O. Box 980678, Richmond, VA 23298-0678. Phone: (804) 828-9093. Fax: (804) 828-9946. E-mail: christie{at}hsc.vcu.edu.

{dagger} Present address: Department of Biology, Drew University, Madison, NJ 07940.

Journal of Bacteriology, December 2002, p. 6522-6531, Vol. 184, No. 23
0021-9193/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.184.23.6522-6531.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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 © 2002 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.