A mutation in the gene for polynucleotide kinase of bacteriophage T4 K10 affects mRNA processing.

The bacteriophage T4 insertion-substitution (I/S) vector system has become one of the most important tools for the introduction of site-directed mutations into the T4 genome. In this study, we show that the I/S phage T4 K10 carries two point mutations within the gene for polynucleotide kinase pseT, resulting in amino acid substitutions G14D and R229H. The G14D mutation impairs 5'-kinase activity in vivo as well as in vitro and leads to diminished processing at secondary sites of several RegB-cleaved transcripts.