Phage P22 Replication and Packaging

Rolling circle replication:

After initial replication of the circular P22 DNA by theta-replication, the DNA is replicated by rolling circle replication. Rolling circle replication generates a long concatemer of linear, double-stranded DNA that can be packaged into phage heads.

Headful packaging of P22:

Each phage head holds about 44 Kbp of double stranded linear DNA. A phage encoded endonuclease initially cuts the DNA at a pac site. One phage head is filled with DNA, then the DNA is cut by the endonuclease. The next head is filled with DNA beginning with the remaining end. These reactions continue processively until 3-5 phage heads are filled with DNA.

Note that the phage genome is about 42 kb, approximately 2 Kbp less than the length of one headful of DNA. Thus, the DNA packaged into each phage head is terminally redundant and the ends are circularly permuted.

Check out this link for a nice review of P22 assembly.

Please send comments, suggestions, or questions to smaloy@sciences.sdsu.edu
Last modified September 9, 2004