Depressant Action of Cyanide on Recombination and Synthesis of Deoxyribonucleic Acid in Phage T4–Escherichia coli Complexes

Abstract

ANALYSIS of phage T4 r^II crosses by Tomizawa and Anraku¹ has suggested that genetic recombination occurs and is stimulated in cyanide treated complexes. They have found similar recombinogenic effects in complexes exposed to arsenic pentoxide, sodium nitride or 2,4-dinitrophenol. These results have been interpreted in terms of genomic replication and recombination as separate processes. Depression of replication causes a change in metabolic processes stimulating recombination. Folsome's observations² that phenethanol, a reversible inhibitor of phage and bacterial DNA synthesis³ and of bacterial messenger RNA synthesis⁴, completely blocks recombination and heterozygote formation in T4 r^II–E. coli B complexes seem to contradict this hypothesis. The experiments of Tomizawa and Anraku¹ have been repeated in an attempt to resolve these differences.