Abstract
Polyuridylic acid was allowed to react with 1M sodium bisulfite at 37°C, pH 7, to produce modified polymers in which up to 95% of the uracil residues were converted to 5,6-dihydrouracil-6-sulfonate residues. Partial saturation of polyuridylic acid by bisulfite sharply reduced its ability to form a helical complex with polyadenylic acid, as measured by melting transition and hypochromicity studies. A 31% saturated polyuridylic acid sample did not interact with polyadenylic acid. The ability of polyuridylic acid to code for phenylalanine incorporation in the E. coli cell free protein synthesis system was very markedly diminished by small degrees of bisulfite modification. Reaction to the extent of 2.6% abolished 46% of the phenylalanine coding ability, for example. This indicates that inactivation of messenger RNA may be one pathway by which bisulfite inflicts biological damage.
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