Transcription of Bacteriophage T4 Genome In Vivo

  1. R. Jayaraman and
  2. E. B. Goldberg
  1. Department of Molecular Biology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts

This extract was created in the absence of an abstract.

Excerpt

Transcription of bacteriophage T4 genome has been studied extensively in vivo (Bolle et al., 1968a, 1968b; Salser et al., 1970) and in vitro (Travers, 1970). These studies utilized RNA-DNA hybridization and hybridization competition techniques to characterize various classes of RNA. Such techniques are useful in distinguishing between classes of RNA, for example, early and late phage RNA, but cannot distinguish individual messenger RNAs (mRNAs) synthesized in vivo or in vitro. We have recently developed a general method which enables us to study the transcription of individual genes of phage T4 (Jayaraman and Goldberg, 1969).

The principle of our technique is illustrated schematically in Fig. 1. The complementary strands of phage T4 DNA are separated and

[Graphics Excised].

Schematic illustration of experimental technique...

purified. The strands are hybridized separately with total RNA extracted from phage-infected cells. The hybrids are then digested with an endonuclease from shark liver specific for single-stranded DNA.

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