Characterization of purines and pyrimidines of deoxypentose nucleic acids from Micrococcus lysodeikticus and bacteriophage.

The phenomenon of abortive infection in the Micrococcus lysodeikticus-bacteriophage system described by Naylor and Burgi (1956) constituted the basic problem to which the following study was directed. The role of deoxypentose nucleic acids (DNA) in cellular physiology and the role of certain of them in transformation experiments is well known. (Avery et al., 1944; Hotchkiss, 1951; Zamenhof et al., 1953; Alexander and Leidy, 1953). Evidence has been presented supporting the contention that differences exist in the base ratios in DNA (Zamenhof et al., 1952; Gandelman et al., 1952; Chargaff, 1955; Dutta et al., 1956) and also that the type of bases may differ. (Wyatt, 1951; Wyatt and Cohen, 1953.) It was of interest, therefore, to study the DNA of the bacteria and bacteriophages involved in the abortive infection reported especially regarding the qualitative and quantitative nature of the base components in order to find out whether the latter differed among participants in the abortive phenomenon described.