Phage library contamination

[Matthias Zeiner]

On Wed, 27 Apr 1994 13:04:54 +0000, Duncan Clark wrote:

>In article:  <2pj0ov$4uj at mserv1.dl.ac.uk>
>  "Matthias Zeiner" <mzei at sun0.urz.uni-heidelberg.de> writes:
>
>> 2) With their gt11 libraries Clontech supply Y1090 strains that are    
>>    resistant to T7. Probably they harbor a F'plasmid providing       
>>    resistance.
>
>
>An F' that makes cells resistant to T7? How does that work?
>
> 
To my knowledge T7 phages don't grow on E.coli strains harboring an F 
plasmid (Hfr, F', F+). Host cells are infected but phages cannot replicate 
("abortive infection"). I don't know if the mechanism which leads to that 
kind of restriction really is understood. Details are in  Birge, E.A. 
(1988) Bacterial and Bacteriophage Genetics: An Introduction. Second 
Edition. Springer-Verlag, New York.


Matthias Zeiner
Inst. Biol. Chem.
INF 501
D-69120 Heidelberg
mzei at sun0.urz.uni-heidelberg.de