title: Interactions between the repressor and the early operator region of bacteriophage Mu.
abstract: The repressor of bacteriophage Mu, c, binds to three operator sites, O1, O2, and O3, overlapping two divergent promoters, which regulate the lytic and lysogenic pathways. Its binding to this operator region generates several complexes, which were analyzed by DNase I protection experiments. We demonstrate that c first binds to two 11-base pair partially repeated sequences in O2 that could represent "core" binding sites for the repressor. This initial interaction serves as an organizer of a more complex nucleoprotein structure in which O2, O1, and O3 become successively occupied. The quaternary structure of the repressor was also investigated. Size exclusion chromatography and protein-protein crosslinking experiments with chemicals that possess linking arms of various lengths indicate that the repressor oligomerizes in solution. A model is proposed describing the successive interactions of c with the operator sites O2, O1, and O3 leading to the elaboration of a higher order structure in which the early lytic functions are repressed.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Microbiologie et Genetique Moleculaires, CNRS, Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rousseau
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bétermier
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chandler
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Alazard
mesh_terms: D010583:Bacteriophage mu / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D001483:Base Sequence; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D018983:DNA Footprinting; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D016679:Genome, Viral; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008970:Molecular Weight; D009698:Nucleoproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009876:Operon; D010957:Plasmids; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D009698:Nucleoproteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins