TRANSDUCTION OF THE ATTACHED SEX FACTOR OF ESCHERICHIA COLI

Abstract

DeWitt, Susanne K. (University of California, Berkeley) and Edward A. Adelberg . Transduction of the attached sex factor of Escherichia coli . J. Bacteriol. 83: 673–678. 1962.—The linkage of the sex factor to one extremity of the chromosome in Hfr cells of Escherichia coli has been confirmed by transduction experiments. In Hfr P4x-6, lac is the last marker to penetrate the female during conjugation. When lac + was transduced from P4x-6 into a lac − strain by phage Plkc, 5% cotransduction of the sex factor was observed. No cotransduction of the sex factor was observed when markers other than lac + were selected. The transduced males resembled the Hfr parent with respect to the site of attachment and orientation of the sex factor, the order of genetic markers transferred, and the gradient of recombination frequencies produced with a given female. When the lac − recipient used in the transduction carried an sfa locus in a different region of the chromosome, the over-all rate of cotransduction was tenfold lower, but the transduced males again resembled the Hfr parent in their sexual behavior.