Preparation and Assay of Phage Lambda

Lambda, a temperate bacteriophage of E. coli , has two alternative modes of replication in sensitive cells, known as the lytic and lysogenic cycles. In the lytic cycle, after the lambda DNA enters the cells, various phage functions are expressed that result in the production of a large number of mature phage particles and cell lysis. In the lysogenic mode, which normally occurs in only a small proportion of the infected cells, the phage forms a more or less stable relationship with the host bacterium; this stable state is known as lysogeny. In a lysogenic cell, phage DNA is normally incorporated into the chromosomal DNA via specific attachment sites on both the phage DNA and the host chromosome. Replication of lambda DNA then occurs only during replication of the host chromosome, and the phage genome is inherited by each daughter cell at cell division. The phage is maintained in this prophage state through the action of a repressor protein, coded for by the phage gene cl. This repressor protein turns off the expression of virtually the whole of the lambda genome. If the repressor is inactivated, the expression of phage genes is initiated. This leads to the excision of lambda DNA from the host chromosome and entry into the lytic cycle. The balance between the lytic and lysogenic modes of replication is a delicate and complex one in which a key factor is the concentration of the cl gene product. Some of the many sources of further information about the basic biology of lambda phage are listed in the references to this chapter.