The determination of the DNA base composition in 19 species of adriatic sponges with high-pressure liquid cation-exchange chromatography.

The (adenine+thymine)/(guanine+cytosine) base ratios of 19 species of adriatic sponges have been determined by high-pressure liquid cation-exchange chromatography. The base ratios vary from 1.49 (Mycale massa) to 0.63 (Hippospongia communis) according to an (A+T) content of 59.7 and 38.6 mol%, respectively. The DNAs of sponges of the order Keratosa showed marked differences in their (A+T) contents (39.5 to 58.8 mol%) whereas those of Tetractinellida and Halichondrina were nearly identical (39.3 to 40.8 and 49.5 to 49.8 mol%, respectively). The 5-methylcytosine (5MC) content was determined in 8 sponge DNAs by a semiquantitative method. The values differed from 0.8 to 2.2 mol% of 5MC.