Site-specific cleavage of bacteriophage T4 DNA associated with the absence of gene 46 product function.

A plasmid containing a copy of the late gene 23 was cleaved at two specific locations after bacteriophage T4 infection. Cleavage at the major site, which is at the 3' end of gene 23, was detected only in the absence of gene 46 product function and was independent of the state of modification of cytosine residues. Cutting of plasmid (cytosine-containing) DNA at this site was independent of phage DNA replication and late transcription functions. A second cleavage site, in vector DNA, was also mapped. The minor extent of cutting at this site was independent of gene 46 function. Gene 46 codes for, or controls, an exonuclease involved in T4 DNA recombination and in degradation of cytosine-containing DNA.