High-level synthesis of the phage lambda outer-membrane protein from the cloned lom gene.

A 2.7-kb KpnI-EcoRI fragment carrying the lom gene of bacteriophage lambda has been cloned into plasmid pPR42 and recloned into the SmaI site of pUC9. Large quantities of Lom were seen in outer-membrane (OM) preparations of strains carrying the latter clone and its derivatives. The reading frame of lom was identified as ORF206a. The protein was not demonstrably associated either covalently or non-covalently with the peptidoglycan layer of the cell envelope.