Studies on phage internal proteins. II. Cleavage of a precursor of internal proteins during the morphogenesis of bacteriophage T4

Uriel Bachrach*, Leslie Benchetrit

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

The cleavage of proteins labeled early during infection with T4 phage has been studied. The products of this cleavage were tentatively identified as internal proteins by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The cleavage reaction, assayed by the formation of trichloroacetic acid-soluble peptides or by gel filtration, started 12-14 min after the onset of the infection and was catalyzed by a phage induced enzyme. Cleavage was detected in extracts of E. coli B infected with a wild type of T4, and after infection with amber mutants defective in genes 20, 22, 23, and 24; but not after infection with mutants defective in gene 21: amber N90, H29 and the temperature-sensitive mutant N8 (grown at 42°). The enzyme was present in extracts of bacteria infected with amber and temperature sensitive mutants grown under permissive conditions. These results strongly suggest that the cleaving enzyme is controlled by gene 21 and that precursor-product conversion is important for phage maturation.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)51-58
Number of pages8
JournalVirology
Volume59
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - May 1974

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