The effect of mitomycin C on deoxyribonucleic acid and messenger ribonucleic acid in Escherichia coli

Abstract

1. 1. The presence of mitomycin C (10 μg/ml) in a growing culture of a laboratory strain of Escherichia coli arrests the synthesis of DNA. No degradation of DNA seems to take place. 2. Messenger RNA's labelled with [2- 14C]uracil after pulses of 15 and 30 sec respectively, were isolated from mitomycin C-inhibited (10 μg/ml) and control cultures. These were less efficient in forming hybrids with denatured DNA (no mitomycin in culture) compared with control messenger RNA. However, when RNA's which had been pulse-labelled for 60 sec and 120 sec respectively, were used, there was negligible difference in hybridization between the RNA's from the mitomycin C-treated culture and the control culture. 3. DNA isolated from the mitomycin C-treated culture was less efficient in forming hybrids with messenger RNA (no mitomycin in culture) than was denatured DNA isolated from cells which had been grown in the absence of mitomycin C.