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Genome Size of Mycoplasmal DNA

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Abstract

ELECTRON microscopic studies of the contour length of DNA from a mycoplasma species, Mycoplasma hominis (H 39)1, have shown that the DNA in this organism is organized in a single circular chromosome, 262 microns long, corresponding to a molecular weight of 5.0 × 108 daltons. The genome size of bacterial DNA is only well known for a very few bacteria (genome sizes, 0.8–3.0 × 109 daltons)2, but the genomes in mycoplasmas may well be smaller that those of most or all bacteria. If all or most mycoplasmas were to have this same low chromosomal DNA content, the findings might be taken as a strong indication for their having a common phylogenetic origin as well as justifying the placing of mycoplasmas as a separate class of organisms3.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Medical Microbiology, University of Aarhus, Denmark

    A. LETH BAK, FINN T. BLACK, C. CHRISTIANSEN & E. A. FREUNDT

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  1. A. LETH BAK
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  2. FINN T. BLACK
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  3. C. CHRISTIANSEN
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  4. E. A. FREUNDT
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LETH BAK, A., BLACK, F., CHRISTIANSEN, C. et al. Genome Size of Mycoplasmal DNA. Nature 224, 1209–1210 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1038/2241209a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2241209a0

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