The rIIA gene of bacteriophage T4. I. Its DNA sequence and discovery of a new open reading frame between genes 60 and rIIA.

We have determined the DNA sequence of the rIIA gene and have discovered a small open reading frame, rIIA.1, between genes 60 and rIIA. The predicted molecular weights of these proteins are 82,840 for rIIA and 8,124 for rIIA.1. The rIIA protein has a repeated motif which suggests that the gene has evolved by duplication. It also has a motif which suggests that it belongs to a group of ompR-like proteins that control regulation of gene expression in response to changes in the external environment. We have sequenced three different missense mutants whose mutations lie in the Ala segment of the rIIA genetic map. All three changes are found within the first 35 bp of the rIIA coding sequence. The region of control of protein synthesis is identical in the rIIA gene and in gene 44 of T4. We relate this finding to the high sensitivity of both RNAs to translational repression by the T4 regA gene product.