[Compatibility of transposable phages of Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. I. Co-development of phages Mu and D3112 and integration of phage D3112 into RP4::Mu plasmid in Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells]

Abstract

The possibility of using a model system (which included RP4::Mu plasmid and D3112 phage in Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells) for analysis of compatibility of transposable Escherichia coli phage Mu and P. aeruginosa phage D3112, as phages and transposons, was studied. No interaction was observed during the vegetative growth of phages. The majority of the hybrid RP4::Mu plasmids lost the Mu DNA after insertion of D3112 into RP4::Mu. The phenomenon was not a result of transposition immunity. We consider the loss of the Mu DNA as a consequence either of plasmid RP4::Mu instability in P. aeruginosa cells, because of the lack of functional Mu repressor, or of some D3112-encoded activity involved in its transposition. For the inambiguous conclusion on compatibility of two phages as transposons, it is necessary to modify the model system, eliminating the possibility of Mu phage replication--transposition.