Isolation and characterization of the protein coded by gene A of bacteriophage phiX174 DNA.

Abstract

Replication of phiX174 circular replicative form (RFI) DNA by extracts of Escherichia coli infected with bacteriophage phiX174 (amber in gene A) requires the phiX174 gene A product. This requirement has been used as an assay for the isolation of this protein. The gene A product (purified 4000-fold) caused relaxation of superhelical phiX174 RFI and formation of discontinuities in the viral strand of phiX174 RFI uniquely situated in the A region of the genome, and yielded a complex after interacting with phiX174 RFI that is active in replication of phiX RFI.