Uptake and deoxyribonuclease 1 susceptibility of foreign deoxyribonucleic acid by chicken sperm cells

Association of foreign DNA with chicken sperm cells was investigated using a 32P-oligolabelled plasmid preparation. Significant, although low, levels of trichloroacetic acid precipitable radioactivity became rapidly associated with viable sperm cells, in contrast to the situation with formaldehyde-fixed cells. However, analysis by Southern blotting and hybridization of sperm cells incubated with an unlabelled plasmid preparation followed by deoxyribonuclease 1 treatment, demonstrated associated foreign DNA was completely susceptible to nuclease degradation, whereas chromosomal DNA was not affected.