In Vitro Construction and Characterization of the Bacteriophage P4 Derivative, P4 sid71 cosP2, Containing the Bacteriophage P2 cos Region

Bacteriophage P2 sir mutants are inefficient helpers for their satellite bacteriophage P4. The term, “P2 sir-associated helper inefficiency” has been used to define this phenomenon and it has been suggested that the DNA sequence difference between the cos region of P2 and that of P4 is responsible. To test this hypothesis, P4 derivative phage, P4 sid71 cosP2, containing the cos region of P2 and sid71 allele was constructed through several in vitro DNA manipulation steps. Its burst size was determined using a one-step growth experiment. The results showed that the substitution of the cos region of P2 for the cos region of P4 in P4 sid71 cosP2 overcame “P2 sir-associated helper inefficiency”. P4 sid71 cosP2 stock phages prepared with P2 wild type helper and P2 sir helper were analyzed using a CsCl buoyant equilibrium density gradient experiment. The results revealed that the phage particles containing three copies of the P4 genome were the predominant particles in both cases.