Coiled rings of DNA released from cells infected with bacteriophages T7 or T4 or from uninfected Escherichia coli

Early intermediates in bacteriophage T4 DNA replication and recombination

We investigated, by density gradients and subsequent electron microscopy, vegetative T4 DNA after single or multiple infection of Escherichia coli with wild-type T4. Our results can be summarized as follows. (i) After single infection (i.e., when early intermolecular recombination could not occur), most, if not all, T4 DNA molecules initiated the first round of replication with a single loop. (ii) After multiple infection, recombinational intermediates containing label from both parents first appeared as early as 1 min after the onset of replication, long before all parental DNA molecules had finished their first round and before secondary replication was detectable. (iii) At the same time, in multiple infections only, complex, highly branched concatemeric T4 DNA first appeared. (iv) Molecules in which two loops or several branches were arranged in tandem were only found after multiple infections. (v) Secondary loops within primary loops were seen after both single and multiple infections, but they were rare and many appeared off center. Thus, recombination in wild-type T4-infected cells occurred very early, and the generation of multiple tandem loops or branches in vegetative T4 DNA depended on recombination. These results are consistent with the previous finding (A. Luder and G. Mosig, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 79:1101-1105, 1982) that most secondary growing points of T4 are not initiated from origin sequences but from recombinational intermediates. By these and previous results, the various DNA molecules that we observed are most readily explained as intermediates in DNA replication and recombination according to a model proposed earlier to explain various other aspects of T4 DNA metabolism (Mosig et al., p. 277-295, in D. Ray, ed., The Initiation of DNA Replication, Academic Press, Inc., New York, 1981).

Characterization of the defects in bacteriophage T7 DNA synthesis during growth in the Escherichia coli mutant tsnB

The Escherichia coli mutant tsnB (M. Chamberlin, J. Virol. 14:509-516, 1974) is unable to support the growth of bacteriophage T7, although all classes of phage proteins are produced and the host is killed by the infection. During growth in this mutant host, the rate of phage DNA synthesis is reduced and the DNA is not packaged into stable, phagelike particles. The replicating DNA forms concatemers but the very large replicative intermediates (approximately 440S) identified by Paetkau et al. (J. Virol. 22:130-141, 1977) are not detected in T7+-infected tsnB cells. These large structures are formed in tsnB cells infected with a T7 gene 3 (endonuclease) mutant, where normal processing of the large intermediates into shorter concatemers is blocked. At later times during infection of tsnB cells, the replicating DNA accumulates in molecules about 30% shorter than unit length. Analysis of this DNA with a restriction endonuclease indicates that it is missing sequences from the ends (particularly the left end) of the genome. The loss of these specific sequences does not occur during infections with T7 gene 10 (head protein) or gene 19 (maturation protein) mutants. This suggests that the processing of concatemers into unit-length DNA molecules may occur normally in T7 -infected tsnB cells and that the shortened DNA arises from exonucleolytic degradation of the mature DNA molecules. These results are discussed in relation to our recent observation (M. A. DeWyngaert and D. C. Hinkle, J. Biol. Chem. 254:11247-11253, 1979) that E. coli tsnB produces an altered RNA polymerase which is resistance to inhibition by the T7 gene 2 protein.

New late gene, dar, involved in the replication of bacteriophage T4 DNA. III. DNA replicative intermediates of T4 dar and a gene 59 mutant suppressed by dar

A mutation in the dar gene of phage T4 restored the arrested DNA synthesis caused by the gene 59 mutation. We have studied the DNA replicative intermediates in cells infected with a dar mutant and a dar-amC5 (gene 59) mutant by velocity sedimentation in neutral and alkaline sucrose gradients. In T4 dar-infected cells, compared to the wild type, three kinds of abnormalities were observed in DNA replication (i) There were unusually rapidly sedimenting intermediates (800S). (ii) When centrifuged in alkaline gradients, there was less single-stranded DNA exceeding 1 phage unit. (iii) The rate of repair of DNA intermediates was slower. It has been proposed by others that the 200S DNA replicative intermediates are required for DNA packaging, but our results showed that the 800S DNA of dar does not have to be converted into the 200S form to undergo conversion to mature viral DNA. Therefore, 200S DNA may not be an obligatory intermediate for mature viral DNA formation. In amC5 (gene 59)-infected cells, the DNA was completely converted 2 to 3 min after intiation of replication to the biologically inactive 63S DNA, and DNA synthesis was concomitantly arrested. However, in dar-am-C5 (gene 59)-infected cells, the formation of abnormal 63S DNA did not occur and 200S DNA appeared instead. An endonucleolytic activity, normally associated with the cell membrane and capable of making double-stranded cuts, was found in the cytoplasm of T4 dar-infected cells. Because the total activity of this endonuclease is the same for both wild-type T4D and the dar mutant, it seems unlikely that the dar protein has endonucleolytic activity itself. However, the finding does explain the abnormal sedimentation of dar DNA intermediates (800S) as well as the proposed suppression mechanism of the gene 59 mutation.

Intracellular organization of bacteriophage T7 DNA: analysis of parenteral bacteriophage T7 DNA-membrane and DNA-protein complexes

After infection of Escherichia coli with bacteriophage T7, the parenteral DNA forms a stable association with host cell membranes. The DNA-membrane complex isolated in cesium chloride gradients is free of host DNA and the bulk of T7 RNA. The complex purified through two cesium chloride gradients contains a reproducible set of proteins which are enriched in polypeptides having molecular weights of 54,000, 34,000, and 32,000. All proteins present in the complex are derived from host membranes. Treatment of the complex with Bruij-58 removes 95% of the membrane lipid and selectively releases certain protein components. The Brij-treated complex has an S value of about 1,000 and the sedimentation rate of this material is not altered by treatment with Pronase or RNase.

Folded, concatenated genomes as replication intermediates of bacteriophage T7 DNA

A complex form of bacteriophage T7 DNA, containing up to several hundred phage equivalents of DNA, arises during replication of T7. The complex was stable to treatment with ionic detergent, Pronase, and phenol. The complex form normally exists for only a short time, corresponding to the phase of rapid T7 DNA synthesis. It is then converted to shorter molecules, both concatemers and unit-size DNA. The complex was stable up to the temperature of denaturation of the bihelix. It consisted of a series of loops amanating from a dense central core, as shownby electron microscopy. The complex form is similar to the relaxed Escherichia coli folded chromosome ('nucleoid'). The loops contained an average of 0.7 to 0.8 phage equivalent of DNA. During infection by phage with an amber mutation in gene 3 (endonuclease), formation of the complex occurred normally, but its maturation to unit-size DNA blocked. Before treatment with phenol, the complex contained short fragments of newly replicated DNA. These were released as single-stranded pieces during phenol treatment. A pathway for T7 DNA replication is indicated in which the flow of material is from unit-size DNA to linear concatemers to the complex form, and then back to unit-size DNA by way of linear concatemers.

Electron microscopy of membrane-free folded chromosomes from Escherichia coli

Membrane-free folded chromosomes were purified from log-phase cultures of Escherichia coli and prepared for electron microscopy by aqueous (Kleinschmidt and Zahn) spreading. The appearance of the chromosomes depended on the salt concentrations in spreading. At certain salt concentration, the chromosomes resembled rosettes, with supercoiled loops of DNA radiating from a central core containing RNA. The rosettes support previous models deduced from physical studies of folded chromosomes. Apparently, cores contain must of the visible RNA, and the organization of the core is linked to the organization of the DNA loops.