Inactivation and proteolytic cleavage of phage λ repressor in vitro in an ATP dependent reaction

Abstract

The authors reproduced in vitro the inactivation of bacteriophage λ repressor that occurs in vivo when a λ lysogen is treated with agents such as ultraviolet radiation that attack DNA. ATP and a divalent cation are required for the inactivation reaction. The ind- repressor is insensitive to the inactivation mechanism. A proteolytic cleavage of repressor accompanies inactivation in vitro, as it does in vivo.