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PMID: 4688139 Published · ppublish English Journal Article

Thymineless death and ultraviolet sensitivity in Micrococcus radiodurans.

Journal of bacteriology ·Vol. 113 ·No. 1 ·1973-01-00 ·Pages 233-40

Little JG, Hanawalt PC

Abstract

Thymine-requiring mutants of Micrococcus radiodurans have been isolated by selection on solid medium containing trimethoprim. Strains requiring either high concentrations of thymine (50 mug/ml) or low concentrations (2 mug/ml) for normal growth were obtained. The Thy(-) mutant requiring low thymine concentrations has been characterized. It was shown to retain the high ultraviolet light (UV) resistance typical of wild-type M. radiodurans, but it was not resistant to thymineless death. Preliminary exposure of the cells to thymineless conditions resulted in enhanced UV sensitivity, and this interaction occurred under conditions where "unbalanced growth" was inhibited by the addition of chloramphenicol. Upon addition of thymine to deprived cells, UV resistance was gradually restored, and this recovery took place in the absence of protein synthesis. A model is proposed to account for the similarity of thymineless death in bacteria whose deoxyribonucleic acid repair efficiencies differ widely.

MeSH Terms
Bacterial Proteins/biosynthesis Cell Survival Chloramphenicol/pharmacology Culture Media DNA Repair Micrococcus/growth & development,isolation & purification,metabolism,radiation effects Mutation Radiation Effects Thymine/metabolism Trimethoprim Ultraviolet Rays
Chemicals
Bacterial Proteins Culture Media Chloramphenicol Trimethoprim Thymine
Authors & Affiliations
2 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Little J G
Hanawalt P C
References (37)
37 references, click to expand
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Article Info
Journal
Journal of bacteriology
Abbr.
J Bacteriol
ISSN
0021-9193
DOI
10.1128/jb.113.1.233-240.1973
Published
1973-01-00
Pages
233-40
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
2985120R
PMCID
PMC251623
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1128/jb.113.1.233-240.1973 PMC Full Text View journal details
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