title: Pseudogene in the genome of bacteriophage lambda?
abstract: We find a region in the non-coding part of bacteriophage lambda genome that codes for the conserved fold which repressors and other proteins use for specific DNA binding. The region is involved in a long open reading frame exceeding one kilobase and is read in the same frame as gene A in the opposite strand. The putative translation product of this open reading frame has a highly ordered secondary structure with a predominance of alpha helices, which is typical of repressors. In addition, codon usage in this frame suggests a protein-coding region. However, there is a TGA stop codon located between the putative gene start point and the region coding for the DNA binding fold. It thus appears that bacteriophage lambda had one more DNA binding protein, perhaps repressor, in the past that was inactivated by a mutation.
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D010582:Bacteriophage lambda / Q000235:genetics*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics*; D005796:Genes; D005814:Genes, Viral; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors