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P1 Phage
P1 is a temperate bacteriophage that infects ''Escherichia coli'' and some other bacteria. When undergoing a lysogenic cycle the phage genome exists as a plasmid in the bacterium unlike other phages (e.g. the lambda phage) that integrate into the host DNA. P1 has an icosahedral head containing the DNA attached to a contractile tail with six tail fibers. The P1 phage has gained research interest because it can be used to transfer DNA from one bacterial cell to another in a process known as transduction. As it replicates during its lytic cycle it captures fragments of the host chromosome. If the resulting viral particles are used to infect a different host the captured DNA fragments can be integrated into the new host's genome. This method of in vivo genetic engineering was widely used for many years and is still used today, though to a lesser extent. P1 can also be used to create the P1-derived artificial chromosome cloning vector which can carry relatively large fragments of D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Temperateness (virology)
In virology, temperate refers to the ability of some bacteriophages (notably coliphage λ) to display a lysogenic life cycle. Many (but not all) temperate phages can integrate their genomes into their host bacterium's chromosome, together becoming a lysogen as the phage genome becomes a prophage. A temperate phage is also able to undergo a productive, typically lytic life cycle, where the prophage is expressed, replicates the phage genome, and produces phage progeny, which then leave the bacterium. With phage the term virulent is often used as an antonym to temperate, but more strictly a virulent phage is one that has lost its ability to display lysogeny through mutation rather than a phage lineage with no genetic potential to ever display lysogeny (which more properly would be described as an obligately lytic phage). Induction At some point, temperate bacteriophages switch from the lysogenic life cycle to the lytic life cycle. This conversion may happen spontaneously, althoug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ff Phages
Ff phages (for ''F'' specific ''f''ilamentous phages) is a group of almost identical filamentous phage (genus ''Inovirus'') including phages f1, fd, M13 and ZJ/2, which infect bacteria bearing the F fertility factor. The virion (virus particle) is a flexible filament measuring about 6 by 900 nm, comprising a cylindrical protein tube protecting a single-stranded circular DNA molecule at its core. The phage codes for only 11 gene products, and is one of the simplest viruses known. It has been widely used to study fundamental aspects of molecular biology. George Smith and Greg Winter used f1 and fd for their work on phage display for which they were awarded a share of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Early experiments on Ff phages used M13 to identify gene functions, and M13 was also developed as a cloning vehicle, so the name M13 is sometimes used as an informal synonym for the whole group of Ff phages. Structure The virion is a flexible filament (worm-like chain) about 6&nb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Site-specific Recombination
Site-specific recombination, also known as conservative site-specific recombination, is a type of genetic recombination in which DNA strand exchange takes place between segments possessing at least a certain degree of sequence homology. Enzymes known as site-specific recombinases (SSRs) perform rearrangements of DNA segments by recognizing and binding to short, specific DNA sequences (sites), at which they cleave the DNA backbone, exchange the two DNA helices involved, and rejoin the DNA strands. In some cases the presence of a recombinase enzyme and the recombination sites is sufficient for the reaction to proceed; in other systems a number of accessory proteins and/or accessory sites are required. Many different genome modification strategies, among these recombinase-mediated cassette exchange (RMCE), an advanced approach for the targeted introduction of transcription units into predetermined genomic loci, rely on SSRs. Site-specific recombination systems are highly specific, fa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nat Sternberg
Nat L. Sternberg (August 2, 1942 – September 26, 1995) was an American molecular biology, molecular biologist and bacteriophage researcher, particularly known for his work on Genetic recombination, DNA recombination and the P1 phage, phage P1. Early life and education Born in 1942 in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York, Sternberg gained a BSc at Brooklyn College, followed by a master's at Long Island University. In 1969, he received a PhD from Purdue University, Indiana, researching T-even bacteriophages, T-even phage head proteins under the supervision of Sewell Champe. Career In 1970–72, Sternberg held a postdoctoral fellowship at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology of the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) in Paris, under the direction of François Gros, where he researched the head proteins of Lambda phage, phage λ. He then returned to the US, taking up the position of staff fellow in the laboratory of Robert Weisberg at the National Institutes of Health ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
