THE NUCLEIC ACIDS OF T2, T4, AND T6 BACTERIOPHAGES

Abstract

The deoxyribonucleic acids of the wild type strains of the T2, T4, and T6 bacteriophages have been shown to contain glucose as an integral part of the molecule; the amount of hexose present in each nucleic acid differs. A study of the acid degradation products of the three nucleic acids has revealed that in each instance glucose is linked to the apurinic acid component. In the case of the T6 nucleic acid it was found that two molecules of glucose are linked to hydroxymethylcytidylic acid. The other mononucleotides contained no glucose. From the results which have been presented here, and from data presented by others, it can be concluded that the three viral nucleic acids differ in that they contain different proportions of free and glucose-substituted hydroxymethylcytidylic acids.