Activation of prophage P4 by the P2 Cox protein and the sites of action of the Cox protein on the two phage genomes.

Phage P2 induces the unrelated prophage P4. In this paper we show that this is due to the activation of the P4 late promoter PII by the P2 Cox protein. This is in contrast to the effects of Cox on P2, for which it is known from previous work that it acts as a repressor of the promoter Pc, which is responsible for expression of the immunity repressor C. The activator role of Cox was revealed by its effect on replication of P4 DNA and on the formation of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase when a promoterless cat gene was inserted downstream of the P4 PII promoter. DNase I protection studies revealed that the Cox protein binds to the repressor promoter Pc of phage P2 and to the promoter PII of phage P4. In the latter case the Cox protein binds upstream of the -35 region, in analogy to several other activators of promoters. A weak binding was found in the promoters Pe of phage P2 and Ple of phage P4. The Cox protein is a case of viral transactivation of the replication genes of one phage by a control protein of the other. However, the effects of the Cox protein are totally different in the two phages, repressive in one case and activating in the other.