Twenty-one temperature-sensitive (
ts) mutants were isolated from group II RNA phage GA after nitrous acid mutagenesis. They formed plaques at 32°C, but not at 40°C. The eclipse period, latent period, and burst size of GA were 18 minutes, 25 minutes, and 800 at 37°C, respectively.
Cell cultures infected with moi of 5 of these
ts mutants were incubated for 40 minutes, first at 40°C and then at 32°C. Release of progenies began 1 minute after the temperature-shift for
ts, 20, but was delayed by 14 to 28 minutes for
ts 4 and
ts 25. From the results of temperature-shift experiments, the 21
ts mutants were classified into 3 groups; that is, early (E), middle (M), and late (L) function mutants. The E mutants (6
ts mutants with
ts 25) were thought to have been blocked in the early stage of infection. The M mutants (5
ts mutants with
ts 4) and L mutants (10
ts mutants with
ts 20) were presumed to have been middle and late function mutants, respectively.
The
ts mutants were examined for ability to produce serum-blocking power (SBP) at a nonpermissive temperature (41°C). The L mutants produced much SBP (about 50% of GA) at 41°C, but the E mutants produced no detectable amounts of SBP. The SBP of the M mutants was less than 11 phage particles per induced cell.
The grouping of the
ts mutants based on physiological properties was in good accordance with the results of the complementation test. These results suggest that the E mutant may probably be a replicate one and the M mutant a coat protein one, and that the L mutant may have a defect in the A protein cistron. Asymmetric complementation was observed for the first time in group II RNA phage GA. In the cross between
ts 4 (M mutant) and
ts 11 (L mutant), about 79% of the total progenies produced were
ts 4.
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