Base composition of rapidly-labelled RNA in E. coli undergoing thymineless death.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to N Sicard.
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Plasmid DNA, isolated from mutants of E. coli that are deficient in both uracil-DNA glycosylase and deoxyuridine triphosphatase, contains significant amounts of uracil. This can be removed in vitro by the action of uracil-DNA glycosylase, creating apyrimidinic sites. We have used depyrimidinated plasmid DNA isolated in this way to test the ability of E. coli extracts to preferentially incorporate labeled deoxythymidine triphosphate. No pyrimidine-insertase activity was found in extracts of bacteria that were deficient in exonuclease III. The question of the existence of such an activity in E. coli cells is discussed.