Differential sensitivity to antibiotics of trp mRNA synthesis originating at the trp promoter and the lambda promoter.

Transcription of the Escherichia coli trp operon translocated into the early region of bacteriophage lambda can occur under the control of either of two promoters, the trp promoter on the lambda promoter (OL of N gene). (Imamato, F. and Tani, S. (1972) Nat. New Biol. 240, 172-175 and Ihara S. and Imamoto, F. (1976) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 432, 199-211). Trp mRNA synthesis originating at the trp promoter stopped when translation was blocked by chloramphenicol tetracycline erythromycin or puromycin. In contrast, trp mRNA synthesis originating at the lambda promoter was not affected by antibiotic action. This probably is a reflection of the properties of the "immediate early" class of genes of lambda, whose transcription in initiated at the PL. promoter and is not inhibited by the antibiotic. The inference is strengthened by comparable results with phage lambdatrpE-A (carrying an intact tro operon) and lambdatrpBA (carrying the operator-distal two genes but missing the trp promoter and operator). Thus it seems that either the promoter or other gene(s) located at the beginning of the operon, either at polymerase addition or because of some feature of the transcript, can determine a requirement for "coupling" of RNA polymerase to the translational machinery in vivo.