Mapping the λ Integrase bridges in the nucleoprotein Holliday junction intermediates of viral integrative and excisive recombination

The site-specific recombinase encoded by bacteriophage λ [λ Integrase (Int)] is responsible for integrating and excising the viral chromosome into and out of the chromosome of its Escherichia coli host. In contrast to the other well-studied and highly exploited tyrosine recombinase family members, such as Cre and Flp, Int carries out a reaction that is highly directional, tightly regulated, and depends on an ensemble of accessory DNA bending proteins acting on 240 bp of DNA encoding 16 protein binding sites. This additional complexity enables two pathways, integrative and excisive recombination, whose opposite, and effectively irreversible, directions are dictated by different physiological and environmental signals. Int recombinase is a heterobivalent DNA binding protein that binds via its small amino-terminal domain to high affinity arm-type DNA sites and via its large, compound carboxyl-terminal domain to core-type DNA sites, where DNA cleavage and ligation are executed. Each of the four Int protomers, within a multiprotein 400-kDa recombinogenic complex, is thought to bind and, with the aid of DNA bending proteins, bridge one arm- and one core-type DNA site. Despite a wealth of genetic, biochemical, and functional information generated by many laboratories over the last 50 y, it has not been possible to decipher the patterns of Int bridges, an essential step in understanding the architectures responsible for regulated directionality of recombination. We used site-directed chemical cross-linking of Int in trapped Holliday junction recombination intermediates and recombination reactions with chimeric recombinases, to identify the unique and monogamous patterns of Int bridges for integrative and excisive recombination.