Phage λ has an analog of Escherichia coli recO, recR and recF genes

Abstract

The RecF pathway catalyzes generalized recombination in Escherichia coli that is mutant for recBC, sbcB and sbcC. This pathway operating on conjugational recombination requires the recA, recF, recJ, recN, recO, recQ, recR, ruvA, ruvB and ruvC genes. In contrast, λ mutant for its own recombination genes, int, redα and redβ, requires only the recA and recJ genes to recombine efficiently in recBC sbcB sbcC cells. Deletion of an open reading frame in the ninR region of λ results in an additional requirement for recO, recR and recF in order to recombine in recBC sbcB sbcC mutant cells. This function, designated orf for recO-, recR- and recF-like function, is largely RecF pathway specific.