Action of ionizing radiation on sensitive strains of Escherichia coli B

Strain B(8-11) has been found to be very sensitive to postirradiation DNA degradation. Up to 98% of the DNA is degraded at optimum doses. The amount of residual DNA correlates with the retention of colony-forming ability (CFA). Studies of rates of degradation as a function of dose agree with the concept that a degrading lesion causes a definite rate of degradation and that increased numbers of lesions produce proportionally faster rates. By observing the burst size of T7 phage which uses host DNA it has been established that DNA degradation occurs in an all-or-nothing fashion in a unit which is present two or three times per cell. Degradation is enzymatic and the enzyme system is already present in the cell as evidenced by the rapid onset of degradation. DNA synthesis continues in cells that have lost some chromosomes by degradation. Single-cell division patterns show that recovery from "sublethal" damage can occur even in this sensitive cell. Recovery in preirradiation oxygenated cells differs from that in nitrogenated cells.