Abstract
Nuclear DNA obtained by SDS treatment or phenol extraction of isolated polytene salivary gland nuclei of D. melanogaster and D. hydei was investigated electron-microscopically. All preparations contained only linear doublestranded DNA filaments of various length. The mean length of a sample of 52 DNA filaments of D. melanogaster produced by SDS treatment was 37.3 μ. For D. hydei a mean length of 24.2 μ was established on account of a sample of 51 filaments obtained by SDS treatment. In samples obtained by phenol extraction a mean length of 23.8 μ (26 filaments) was found. Pronase digestion following SDS treatment gave a mean length of 29.1 μ for D. melanogaster (46 filaments) and of 17.1 μ for D. hydei (57 filaments). — The mean length of DNA filaments from D. hydei sperm was 21.5 μ on the basis of 25 filaments measured. The length distribution of the DNA of the samples of filaments measured varied. Preparations of single-stranded DNA obtained by heat denaturation of samples of D. hydei nuclear DNA revealed very long filaments. An obvious increase in the number of filaments shorter than 30 μ as compared with double-stranded DNA could not be established.
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Derksen, J., Berendes, H.D. Polytene chromosome structure at the submicroscopic level. Chromosoma 31, 468–477 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00285837
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00285837