title: What makes the bacteriophage lambda Red system useful for genetic engineering: molecular mechanism and biological function.
abstract: Recent studies have generated interest in the use of the homologous recombination system of bacteriophage lambda for genetic engineering. The system, called Red, consists primarily of three proteins: lambda exonuclease, which processively digests the 5'-ended strand of a dsDNA end; beta protein, which binds to ssDNA and promotes strand annealing; and gamma protein, which binds to the bacterial RecBCD enzyme and inhibits its activities. These proteins induce a 'hyper-rec' state in Escherichia coli and other bacteria, in which recombination events between DNA species with as little as 40 bp of shared sequence occur at high frequency. Red-mediated recombination in the hyper-rec bacterium proceeds via a number of different pathways, and with the involvement of different sets of bacterial proteins, depending in part on the nature of the recombining DNA species. The role of high-frequency double-strand break repair/recombination in the life cycle of the lambdoid phages is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 55 Lake Avenue North, Worcester, MA 01655, USA. anthony.poteete@umassmed.edu
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Poteete
mesh_terms: D010582:Bacteriophage lambda / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics* / Q000821:virology; D005090:Exodeoxyribonucleases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005814:Genes, Viral; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins; C118730:beta protein, Bacteriophage lambda; D005090:Exodeoxyribonucleases; C043586:exo protein, Bacteriophage lambda