Investigating the Rex exclusion genes of bacteriophage Lambda

噬菌体生物学已经成为我们目前理解分子遗传学和设计新的分子生物学工具的关键门户。虽然在这一领域的工作已经导致了对基因调控，DNA复制和重组的突破性理解，但仍有许多东西有待学习，许多具有潜在可利用利益的谜团仍未解决。其中一个特别重要的是λ T4 rII排除（雷克斯）表型。这种表型是一种复杂的、神秘的现象，被定义为噬菌体T4快速裂解突变体（称为rII突变体）不能在大肠杆菌的细胞菌苔上形成噬斑。大肠杆菌携带休眠的λ噬菌体，整合在E. coli染色体。具有讽刺意味的是，尽管rII基因在逃避雷克斯表型方面具有历史意义，并且是迄今为止最彻底的定位基因，但雷克斯的RII逃避机制和RII排斥表型本身仍然无法解释。

Bacteriophage biology has served as critical gateway to our current understanding of molecular genetics, and to the design of new molecular biology tools. Although work in this area has led to ground breaking understanding of gene regulation, DNA replication and recombination, much remains to be learned and many mysteries with potentially exploitable benefits remain unsolved. One of particular significance is the Lambda T4rII exclusion (Rex) Phenotype. This phenotype is a complex, enigmatic phenomenon that is defined as the inability of a bacteriophage T4 rapid lysis mutant (called rII mutant), to form plaques on a cell lawn of E. coli carrying a dormant Lambda bacteriophage, integrated in the E. coli chromosome. Ironically, despite the historical significance of the rII genes in evading the Rex phenotype, and being the most thoroughly mapped genes of any to date, the mechanisms of RII evasion of Rex and the RII exclusion phenotype itself, remain unexplained.