Mutagenesis of ultraviolet-irradiated lambda phage by host cell irradiation: induction of Weigle mutagenesis is not an all-or-none process.

Ultraviolet mutagenesis of lambda phage to clear plaque formers is the same in the total phage population and in subpopulations of phage which have also mutated to gam- or at an amber codon. This is true for phage assayed in host cells in which Weigle mutagenesis has been either partially induced by low levels of ultraviolet irradiation, or fully induced by higher levels. If induction of Weigle mutagenesis were all-or-none, clear plaque formers in phage subpopulations selected for another mutation elsewhere would come mainly from induced cells; then the clear plaque mutation rate would always be that for fully induced host cells. Therefore, induction requires more than one lesion in host cell DNA. Although thymine starvation of cells induces synthesis of recA protein, it does not induce Weigle mutagenesis; in fact starvation inhibits induction of this process on subsequent ultraviolet irradiation of the cells.