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  • Genomic characterization of mycobacteriophage Giles: evidence for phage acquisition of host DNA by illegitimate recombination.

Genomic characterization of mycobacteriophage Giles: evidence for phage acquisition of host DNA by illegitimate recombination.

Journal of bacteriology (2008-01-08)
Peter Morris, Laura J Marinelli, Deborah Jacobs-Sera, Roger W Hendrix, Graham F Hatfull
ABSTRACT

A characteristic feature of bacteriophage genomes is that they are architecturally mosaic, with each individual genome representing a unique assemblage of individual exchangeable modules. Plausible mechanisms for generating mosaicism include homologous recombination at shared boundary sequences of module junctions, illegitimate recombination in a non-sequence-directed process, and site-specific recombination. Analysis of the novel mycobacteriophage Giles genome not only extends our current perspective on bacteriophage genetic diversity, with more than 60% of the genes unrelated to other mycobacteriophages, but offers novel insights into how mosaic genomes are created. In one example, the integration/excision cassette is atypically situated within the structural gene operon and could have moved there either by illegitimate recombination or more plausibly via integrase-mediated site-specific recombination. In a second example, a DNA segment has been recently acquired from the host bacterial chromosome by illegitimate recombination, providing further evidence that phage genomic mosaicism is generated by nontargeted recombination processes.

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Supelco
Liquid chromatography columns, Luer Lock, Non-jacketed, bed volume 4 mL, I.D. × L 0.7 cm × 10 cm
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