INVOLVEMENT OF GENE 49 IN RECOMBINATION OF BACTERIOPHAGE T4

Junichi Miyazaki ¹, Yeikou Ryo ¹, and Teiichi Minagawa ¹

¹ Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606, Japan

The role of T4 gene 49 in recombination was investigated using its conditional-lethal amber (am) and temperature-sensitive (ts) mutants. When measured in genetic tests, defects in gene 49 produced a recombination-deficient phenotype. However, DNA synthesized in cells infected with a ts mutant (tsC9) at a nonpermissive temperature appeared to be in a recombinogenic state: after restitution of gene function by shifting to a permissive temperature, the recombinant frequency among progeny increased rapidly even when DNA replication was blocked by an inhibitor. Growth of a gene 49-defective mutant was suppressed by an additional mutation in gene uvsX, but recombination between rII markers was not.