About: Bacteriophage Mu

Bacteriophage Mu, also known as mu phage or mu bacteriophage, is a muvirus (the first of its kind to be identified) of the family Myoviridae which has been shown to cause genetic transposition. It is of particular importance as its discovery in Escherichia coli by Larry Taylor was among the first observations of insertion elements in a genome. This discovery opened up the world to an investigation of transposable elements and their effects on a wide variety of organisms. While Mu was specifically involved in several distinct areas of research (including E. coli, maize, and HIV), the wider implications of transposition and insertion transformed the entire field of genetics.