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Published on: February 5, 2015
DIFFERENTIAL MUTATION PRODUCTION BY THE DECAY OF INCORPORATED TRITIUM COMPOUNDS IN E. COLI
Abstract:
We have studied the differential mutation production by the decay of incorporated tritium compounds in E. coli (WWU) using DNA-seeking precursors (H(3)-thymidine), RNA-seeking precursors (H(3)-uracil, H(3)-uridine), and protein-seeking precursors (H(3)-histidine, H(3)-proline). In particular we have determined the reversion frequency of an arginine locus. The reversion frequency is measured in units of revertants/surviving bacteria/H(3) decay, and has an average value of 1.84 x 10(-8) for H(3)-uridine and H(3)-uracil, 0.67 x 10(-8) for H(3)-thymidine, and 0.28 x 10(-8) for H(3)-proline and H(3)-histidine. Thus, the revertants are produced most effectively by H(3) decays when the label is introduced in the form of an RNA precursor. The macromolecular distribution of the label shows that 5 to 8 per cent of the H(3)-uridine or H(3)-uracil is incorporated into DNA.
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