DISCOVERY OF THE TAIL TUBE GENE OF BACTERIOPHAGE-MU AND SEQUENCE-ANALYSIS OF THE SHEATH AND TUBE GENES

The nucleotide sequence was determined for 2.75 kbp of phage Mu DNA en coding the contractile tail sheath protein L. N-terminal sequence anal ysis of Mu tail tube and sheath proteins identified the open reading f rame just downstream of gene L as the tube gene. This clustering and o rder of the sheath and tube genes appear to be common among the myovir idae. Database homology searches revealed high similarity between the Mu sheath and tube proteins and two proteins in a Haemophilus influenz ae Mu-like prophage, suggesting that they are the sheath and tube prot eins of that prophage. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reser ved.