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9-Aminoacridine mutagenesis of bacteriophage T4 intracellular DNA

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Summary

Most of the intracellular T4 DNA made in the presence of 9-aminoacridine is of lower molecular weight than mature T4 DNA and does not get packaged into phage particles. Using a T4 DNA transformation assay, we have examined this intracellular T4 DNA for its content of 9-aminoacridine-induced revertants of certain rII gene frameshift mutations. The proportion of acridine-induced revertants in the intracellular DNA population is close to that found in the phage progeny made in the presence of 9-aminoacridine. Thus, the generation of low molecular weight T4 DNA in the presence of 9-aminoacridine is not, in itself, also a mutagenic process.

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Abbreviations

9AA:

9-aminoacridine

9AA-DNA:

intracellular T4 DNA made in the presence of 9-aminoacridine

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Communicated by L. Lerman

This work was supported by U. S. Public Health Service Grant GM-19422 and by a grant from the American Cancer Society to Yale University.

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Altman, S., Warner, V. 9-Aminoacridine mutagenesis of bacteriophage T4 intracellular DNA. Molec. Gen. Genet. 138, 333–343 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00264803

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