Separation of Calf Thymus Deoxyribonucleic Acid into Fractions of Different Composition

Chargaff, Erwin; Crampton, Charles F.; Lipshitz, Rakoma

doi:10.1038/172289a0

Cited by 122 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Bendich (3) reports two DNA fractions from the rat differing not only in isotope incorporation, but in solubility in saline. Moreover, DNA fractions from a single species have been reported to show differing degrees of binding to histone with variation in salt concentration (7,4). However, the biochemical data of Chargaff (6) and Wyatt (35) indicate that, at least at the level of purine and pyrimidine bases, the over-all composition of a single species of DNA is constant.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Dna in Gametogenesis and Embryogeny in Tradescantia

Woodard

1956

The Journal of Cell Biology

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Within recent years evidence has come from several lines of research that the gene is either composed of, or is at least intimately associated with, desoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA). Experiments in microbial genetics have shown that only the DNA fraction of the bacterial protoplast is capable of transforming other bacteria to the genetic type from which the DNA was originally derived (2). Further, both chemical extraction and photometric studies have supported the view that within a plant or animal the amount of DNA per nucleus occurs in simple multiples of a basic (haploid) amount (see references 30, 34 for review). Such consistent quantitative behavior could account, at least in part, for the remarkable genetic constancy of successive cell generations and has been presented as evidence for close relationship between DNA and the stable characteristics of the gene (see reference 30 for review).The nucleus has been known for some time to embody several other forms of stability. Studies on uptake of radioactive phosphorus (p32) have shown a striking metabolic stability in the DNA molecule. Autoradiographic studies (see references 11, 33, 16, 8 for review) indicate that although incorporation of p32 into DNA is high in tissues where DNA synthesis is occurring, it is very low in some non-dividing tissues. Furthermore, chromatographic separation and quantitation of the purines and pyrimidines of DNA indicate that the proportions of the purine and pyrimidine bases seem to be constant for a species (6,35). In contrast to the stability of DNA, ribose nucleic acid (RNA) and some protein fractions appear to vary and Ris (22) has suggested that constancy of DNA represents nuclear stability presumably related to the stable aspects of the gene, while the variability of some protein and RNA fractions represents instabilit~ and change in the nucleus according to cell function.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Dna in Gametogenesis and Embryogeny in Tradescantia

Woodard

1956

The Journal of Cell Biology

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“…In view of the active metabolic role of these substances and their demonstrated heterogeneity (Brown & Watson, 1953;Chargaff, Crampton & Lipshitz, 1953;Crosbie, Smellie & Davidson, 1953) it appears that changes in composition, as well as amount, may occur at different growth times, particularly with pentosenucleic acid (PNA). Also, considering the association of deoxypentosenucleic acid (DNA) with the transference of resistance to antibiotics (Hotchkiss, 1951;Alexander & Leidy, 1953) and of both PNA and DNA with the formation of certain enzyme systems (Gale & Folkes, 1955), a difference in composition of the nucleic acids from an antibiotic-resistant strain as compared with that of the nucleic acids from a sensitive strain, appears possible.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Nucleic Acids of Sarcina lutea

Dutta

Jones

Stacey

1956

Journal of General Microbiology

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SUMMARY : The deoxypentosenucleic acid (DNA) and pentosenucleic acid (PNA) were isolated from Sarcina Zutea and their purine and pyrimidine contents determined. No differences were detected in composition of either the DNA or the PNA isolated from cultures grown a t different times. The composition of the DNA from a streptomycin-resistant strain did not differ significantly from that of DNA from a normal streptomycin-sensitive strain, but the composition of the PNA from the resistant strain did differ significantly from that of PNA from the sensitive strain. The DNA contained a very high proportion of guanine and cytosine to adenine and thymine.In the PNA from both streptomycin-sensitive and resistant strains, guanine and cytosine predominated and the ratio of guanine + uracil to adenine + cytosine was nearly 1.

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“…It was shown by Chargaff et al (63) that the extraction of nucleoprotein gels, which had been denatured by shaking with chloroform as in the Sevag process, with salt solutions of increasing concentration resulted in fractions of differing composition, the fractions obtained with the greater salt concentrations being relatively richer in adenine and thymine. These authors concluded that the bonds between the denatured protein and the different bases mere of different strengths and that those with adenine/thymine required a greater concentration of salt.…”

Section: F Fractionation Of Dnamentioning

confidence: 97%