Abstract
THE chromosome of bacteriophage ϕ29, one of the smallest Bacillus phages, is a non-permuted linear duplex DNA molecule of molecular weight 11 × 106 (refs 1 and 2) that seems to be circularised by association with a protein, as circular monomers are converted into linear monomers by treatment with proteolytic enzymes3. A similar circular DNA–protein complex has been reported for adenoviruses4. DNA extracted from phage ϕ29 is infectious (transfectious) when added to competent cells of B. subtilis5. This trans-fectivity is sensitive to proteolytic enzymes6, indicating that some protein is associated with ϕ29 DNA and is required for transfection. Protease-sensitive transfection has also been observed with DNAs of B. subtilis. subtilis phages, GA1 (ref. 7), SPO2 and ϕ105 (H. Hirokawa, personal communication).
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YANOFSKY, S., KAWAMURA, F. & ITO, J. Thermolabile transfecting DNA from temperature-sensitive mutant of phage ϕ29. Nature 259, 60–63 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/259060a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/259060a0
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