New deletion mutant of bacteriophage T5.

Deletion mutants of bacteriphage T5 can be identified by analyzing the DNA content of single plaques, after alkaline denaturation, by agarose gel electrophoresis. Use of this procedure has resulted in the isolation of a new mutant, designated del2, that lacks a 1.6% segment located 68 to 70% from the left end of T5 DNA. This segment occurs between the early and late gene regions of T5 DNA.