The effects of deuterium oxide on bacteria

Studies on incorporation of Deuterium into bacteria

“…A similar dilution was observed by Marmur & Schildkraut (1961), who devised a synthetic medium containing a higher deuterium content. No such attempt was made in the present work since the deuterium content used produced pronounced phenotypic and genotypic effects (De Giovanni, 1961) without excessive inhibition of growth.…”

“…Cells of B/S strain, grown for four generations (cell divisions) in synchronized cultures in medium containing 92 % of deuterium oxide, did not exhibit distortions or an increased yield of mutants; however, after eight generations, distorted cells and a 37-fold increase in the mutation rate were detected (De Giovanni, 1961 Porter (1954) reported that the cells of Chlorella pyrenoidosa grown in a medium containing deuterium oxide incorporated deuterium more slowly than hydrogen; the deuterium:hydrogen ratio of incorporation after five divisions was 0-4: 1. Moses, Holm-Hansen & Calvin (1958) reported that 'unadapted' cells of C. pyrenoidosa took up hydrogen from the growth medium in preference to deuterium; however, 'adapted' cells preferentially took up deuterium.…”

“…The mutagenic effect of deuterium oxide has been reported for several strains of bacteria (De Giovai & Zamnenhof, 1959;De Giovanni, 1960, 1961 and for the bacteriophage T4 (Konrad, 1960). With bacteria the growth of several strains was inhibited by media containing deuterium oxide and the degree of inhibition was strain-specific.…”

“…It therefore appears that, during initial divisions, cells preferentially take up hydrogen, and that, during subsequent divisions, the concentration of deuterium in the cell increases. (De Giovanni & Zamenhof, 1959;De Giovanni, 1960, 1961; the extent of the effect appears to be related to the extent of deuterium incorporation. In a study of the effects of isotopes on bacterial growth Borek & Rittenberg (1960) suggested that the presence of the mixture of isotopes rather than the presence of the rare isotope may be responsible for the phenotypic effects.…”

“…The purpose of the present study was to investigate the extent of deuterium incorporation in celLs of Escherichia coli and in nitrogenous bases of their DNA, in an attempt to correlate such incorporation with the phenotypic and genotypic effects of deuterium on these cells (De Giovanni & Zamenhof, 1959;De Giovanni, 1960, 1961 Giovanni (1961).…”