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A model on the induction by UV irradiation of Escherichia coli bacteria lysogenic with the bacteriophage Lambda
Author(s) -
Noack D.,
Rontó Gy.
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
zeitschrift für allgemeine mikrobiologie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.58
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1521-4028
pISSN - 0044-2208
DOI - 10.1002/jobm.19740140107
Subject(s) - prophage , lysogenic cycle , escherichia coli , repressor , bacteriophage , biology , dna , circular bacterial chromosome , bacteria , microbiology and biotechnology , physics , genetics , gene , gene expression
The induction of Lambda prophages in lysogenic Escherichia coli cells is started after inactivation of repressor molecules coded for by the prophage genome itself. All agents known to inhibit bacterial DNA synthesis are able to initiate a set of processes resulting in the inactivation of these repressors. In the case of UV light as an inducing agent it is suggested that the UV mediated damages within the bacterial DNA diminish the replication velocity leading through a set of intermediate processes to the inactivation of phage repressors by accumulation of repressor inactivating precursors of DNA synthesis. The analytical function for the dose effect curve is obtained from the product of the probability P I of cells containing I UV damages multiplied by the number I of UV damages after summing up all possible numbers of I . The probability of P I is calculated on the basis of the radiation kinetic model of RONTÓ et al. (1972). The theoretical dose effect curve, obtained shows a shoulder with an extrapolation number of 1.2 and a linear part at high irradiation doses in semilogarithmic plot. The experimental data obtained with UV induction of E. coli K12 (λ) are consistent with the model and show that only a few UV damages smaller than 10 per bacterial chromosome are sufficient for induction.