Resolution of synthetic att-site Holliday structures by the integrase protein of bacteriophage lambda.

Site-specific recombination of the bacteriophage lambda genome into and out of the host bacterial genome is postulated to involve the formation of Holliday structure intermediates by reciprocal single-strand exchanges. Synthetic analogues of the predicted recombination intermediates are resolved in vitro by the protein product of the lambda int gene. Some of the structural features and reaction conditions for this genetic recombination can now be defined.