Microbiology Procedure

Index >> Bacteriophages - Part One >> RF Replication

RF Replication

	RF Replication - The A gene protein is required for replication. The function of this protein appears to be nicking of the viral strand in the complex RF molecule. The A gene protein is an example of a cis-acting, protein. It apparently cannot act in trans, probably because the substrate is not readily available in this conformation.
The protein appears to act at the hairpins (cruciform structures) which exist at palindromic sequences in negatively superhelical DNA. An alternative suggestion is that the enzyme recognizes a hairpin or a specific sequence of nucleotides in a DNA region temporarily made single stranded during transcription.
According to this scheme, replication and transcription would be coupled processes. Such a process is believed to be present in the lambda phage and in M13. The host cell functions required for ØX 174 RF replication include the rep proteins and dnaB, dnaC, dnaE, dnaG, dnaH and dnaZ proteins.

Home | Site map | Submit Article | Resources | Search

Language >> English | Français | Español | Deutsch | Italiano | Portugues | Japanese | Korean | Sim-Chinese