FFECTS OF BETA‐PROPIOLACTONE AND CEEPRYN ON CHROMOSOMES OF VICIA AND ALLIUM

Abstract

A UNIFYING PRINCIPLE in the induction of gene and chromosomal mutations as well as in cancer chemotherapy (Rhoads, 1954) is that the site of control rests in the nucleoproteins of the cell nucleus. Some have stressed the essentiality of the protein components for specificity; on the other hand, certain evidence from bacterial genetics indicates that desoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA) alone may transmit genetic information. The structure of the chromosome as seen under the microscope has been shown to depend on the combination of protein with DNA (for review see Mirsky, 1953). A series of experiments carried out in Caspersson's laboratory led him and Schultz to conclude that heterochrornatin directs nucleic-acid metabolism and, thus, the protein metabolism in the chromosomes and cytoplasm (for review see Caspersson, 1950). In the experiments reported here, two compounds with predictable basically different effects on nucleic acids and proteins were used to treat root meristems and the response was observed in growth and chromosomal changes. MATERIALS AND METHODS.-Seeds of Burpee's commercial strain of Vicia faba were sprouted until the primary root was about 25 mm. lona. Root tips were then immersed for 30 min. in solutions of beta-propiolactone, the simiplest known lactone; and of the cationic surface-active compound cetyl pyridinium chloride, known commercially as ceepryn. Chemical formulae for these two compounds are given below: