Recombination in bacteriophage T1 in the presence of host restriction

Abstract

When unmodified phage T1 infects restricting host cells at high multiplicities of infection, there is an increase in recombination frequency in all regions of the T1 map compared to the level of recombination in standard crosses when short distances are examined. The enhancement of recombination frequency is not uniform for all regions but is greatest for markers near the center of the map and not so great for markers near the ends. Crosses between markers at the extremities of the map show that there is no increase in recombination frequency under restriction conditions. An examination of phage T1 heterozygotes suggests that an increase of ends created by the process of P1 restriction increases recombination. When T1 crosses are done in the absence of host restriction, recombination defects in the host have no effect on phage recombination and we conclude that phage T1 codes for its own recombination genes. Host recombination functions are also dispensable for the recombination occurring during infection of restricting host cells by unmodified phage at high multiplicities of infection.