Bacteriophage P2-λ interference: Inhibition of protein synthesis involves transfer RNA inactivation

Upon induction of bacteriophage λ in an Escherichia coli strain dilysogenic for phage P2 and λ, incorporation of all radioactive precursors is severely depressed. It appears, however, that incorporation into proteins is shut off before incorporation into RNA. Experiments with acellular extracts showed that all components of the translation machinery remain active in vitro, except the tRNA fraction. tRNA presents a functional alteration which affects its aminoacylation as well as the transfer of the activated complex on ribosomic sites. I thank Professor Francois Gros for guidance and counsel, and for providing laboratory facilities, Dr Philippe Kourilsky for constructing the dilysogenic strain and for stimulating discussions all through the course of this work and Dr Moshe Yaniv for useful advice about tRNA processing.