Recognition of cell surface receptors is controlled by invertible DNA of phage Mu

Inversion of the G segment of bacteriophage Mu DNA is one of the few examples in prokaryotes where the expression of genes is controlled through a rearrangement of DNA. Mu G(+) and G(-) phage particles recognize different receptors in the cell wall of Gram-negative bacteria and as a consequence infect different hosts: Mu G(-), but not Mu G(+), can be propagated on Enterobacter cloacae, Serratia marcescens .