The Process of Infection with Bacteriophage ΦX174: X. Mutations in a ΦX Lysis Gene

Abstract

The ability of conditional lethal mutants of phage ΦX174 to induce host cell lysis during infection under restrictive conditions has been studied. We have found amber (am) and temperature-sensitive (ts) mutants which present a variety of alterations in the normal lytic process. In particular, there is a class of am mutants which do not produce cell lysis but otherwise replicate normally in the restrictive host. These mutants constitute a single complementation group. The existence of these mutants implicates a phage-coded protein in the lytic process. This protein is not an essential structural component of the phage, since normal phage particles are produced in the absence of lysis