Summary
The recombinant forming ability of recB − or recC − strains of E. coli K12 is almost totally recovered in merozygotes which are heterozygous for a genetic locus denoted rac which is located five minutes clockwise from trp on the genetic map. This transient recovery phenomenon only occurs when the donor strain is rac + (wild type) and the recipient strain is rac -. The recombinants derived from such crosses all have the normal phenotype characteristic of recB − (or recC −) strains, and they are almost always rac -. The results imply that the rac + locus (or loci) is zygotically expressed and excised from the chromosome in a manner which is analogous to the zygotic induction of a prophage.
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Low, B. Restoration by the rac locus of recombinant forming ability in recB − and recC − merozygotes of Escherichia coli K-12. Molec. Gen. Genet. 122, 119–130 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00435185
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00435185