Open AccessWhat makes the bacteriophage λ Red system useful for genetic engineering: molecular mechanism and biological function
Author(s) -
Poteete Anthony R.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2001.tb10725.x
Subject(s) - recbcd , homologous recombination , exonuclease , recombination , biology , bacteriophage , escherichia coli , dna , genetics , dna repair , flp frt recombination , genetic recombination , helicase , microbiology and biotechnology , polymerase , rna , gene
Recent studies have generated interest in the use of the homologous recombination system of bacteriophage λ for genetic engineering. The system, called Red, consists primarily of three proteins: λ exonuclease, which processively digests the 5′‐ended strand of a dsDNA end; β protein, which binds to ssDNA and promotes strand annealing; and γ protein, which binds to the bacterial RecBCD enzyme and inhibits its activities. These proteins induce a ‘hyper‐rec’ state in Escherichia coli and other bacteria, in which recombination events between DNA species with as little as 40 bp of shared sequence occur at high frequency. Red‐mediated recombination in the hyper‐rec bacterium proceeds via a number of different pathways, and with the involvement of different sets of bacterial proteins, depending in part on the nature of the recombining DNA species. The role of high‐frequency double‐strand break repair/recombination in the life cycle of the lambdoid phages is discussed.