# HOST AND VIRAL INFLUENCES ON PHAGE LAMBDA DEVELOPMENT

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 1989 · $178,910

## Abstract

The objective of this study is to characterize host-viral protein
interactions involved in the expression of viral genes using coliphage
Lambda and its E. coli host as a model system.

The major emphasis will be directed towards analyzing the multiple factors
involved in the regulation of gene expression by the N. transcription
antitermination protein of Lambda.  In addition to N, the components
include the bacterial Nus proteins and a region on the phage genome, nut.
We propose to continue our study of mutations that alter the activity of
each of the components.  Other possible components will be studied by
characterizing mutations that suppress the effects of nus mutations.  In
particular, we will correlate structural differences with functional
activity of the nusA gene and its product by analyzing:  1) conditionally
lethal nusA mutations, 2) nusA genes from organisms other than E. coli, 3)
hybrid E. coli-S. typhimurium nusA genes constructed in vitro, 4) truncated
nusA proteins constructed by introducing chain terminating condons.  The
nut site will be studied to determine how sequence changes can create more
optimal interactions with the component proteins.  Mutations eliminating
transcription termination will be analyzed to identify important elements
in termination signals.

A second set of E. coli mutations, sip, that influence the action of the
lambdoid phage P22 cl transcription regulatory protein will be analyzed.
The bacterial genes will be cloned and the proteins identified.  Phage
mutations that allow a bypass of the host block will be analyzed in order
to determine the basis of the Sip defect.

Studies on this well characterized system have significantly contributed to
studies on the regulation of E. coli ribosomal RNA and biosynthetic
operons.  In the future they should also contribute to the study of other
host-viral interactions such as those involved in malignant transformation.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3124948
- **Project number:** 5R01AI011459-17
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **SAM.gov UEI:** GNJ7BBP73WE9
- **Principal Investigator:** DAVID I FRIEDMAN
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1989
- **Award amount:** $178,910
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1976-09-01 → 1991-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3124948

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3124948, HOST AND VIRAL INFLUENCES ON PHAGE LAMBDA DEVELOPMENT (5R01AI011459-17). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3124948. Licensed CC0.

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