Biopolymers and cell. 2000; 16 (1): 64 - 68

Use of the bacteriophage F44 for the search of the Erwinia horticola external suppressors

F.. 1. Tovkach, T. E. Gorb

Earlier we have separated from E. horticola the phage F44 which has the wide area of the host bacteria. The hydroxylamine has been used to obtain the F44 nonsense mutants. The selection of F44 nonsense mutants has been carried out on Escherichia coli having the definite suppressor (supE44/su2 ). We have isolated spontaneous revertants His from the auxotrophic mutants of the E. horticola His which have been obtained by the treatment of 2-aminopurine and hydroxylamine. The selection of the E. horticola suppressor strains has been based on the sensitivity of the revertants to the F44 and to its nonsense mutants. We have concluded that the use of the F44 as the test system for the search of the E. horticola external suppressors is sufficiently effective for such poorly investigated bacteria as Erwinia.