Transposition studies of mini-Mu plasmids constructed from the chemically synthesized ends of bacteriophage Mu.

We describe below the chemical synthesis of the right and left ends of bacteriophage Mu and characterize the activity of these synthetic ends in mini-Mu transposition. Mini-Mu plasmids were constructed which carry the synthetic Mu ends together with the Mu A and B genes under control of the bacteriophage lambda pL promoter. Derepression of pL leads to a high frequency of mini-Mu transposition (5.6 X 10(-2) which is dependent on the presence of the Mu ends and the Mu A and B proteins. Five deletion mutants in the Mu ends were tested in the mini-Mu transposition system and their effects on transposition are described.