Abstract
Bacteriophage λ requires two viral gene products for lysogenic development-represser (cI) and integrase (int). Although the genes for these two proteins are located in distinct operons, separated by 9,000 base pairs (bp) of the phage genome, their expression is coordinated by the positive regulation of transcription mediated by another phage-encoded protein, cII (see ref. 1 for review). We have already identified the promoter signal for the establishment of repressor synthesis (PE) and demonstrated that cII protein is required for the initiation of transcription at this site2 . Here we determine the precise in vivo start site for int mRNA and demonstrate that transcription from this site is also cII-dependent. This start site defines the int promoter PI. Atypically, transcription from PI initiates with UTP. Comparison of the nucleotide sequences of the PI and PE promoters reveals a striking homology in identical positions between 26 and 39 bp upstream of their respective start sites.
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Schmeissner, U., Court, D., McKenney, K. et al. Positively activated transcription of λ integrase gene initiates with UTP in vivo. Nature 292, 173–175 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/292173a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/292173a0
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