Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

X-Ray Induced Mutations in Dried Bacteria

Abstract

Agents such as ionizing radiations, mustard gas, etc., effective in increasing mutation-rates in higher organisms, have been shown1 to act likewise in micro-organisms, including several species of bacteria. We can now add a strain of Bacterium aerogenes (isolate by one of us—C. H.—from dried milk) to the list of bacteria in which mutations have been induced by X-ray treatment: doses of 35,000 to 50,000 r., which leave 10−3 to 10−4 survivors, yield ‘biochemical’ mutants at rates of up to 1 per cent.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Luria, S. E., Bact. Rev., 11, 1, 40 (1947).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stone, S. W., Wyss, O., and Haas, F., Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., 33, 59, 66 (1947).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lederberg, J., and Tatum, E. L., J. Biol. Chem., 165, 381, 82 (1946).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beadle, G. W., Chem. Rev., 37, 15, 96 (1945).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Muller, H. J., Proc. Roy. Soc., B, 134, 1, 37 (1947). Spiegelman, S., Cold Spring Harbor Symp., 11, 256, 77 (1947). McIlwain, H., Nature, 158, 898, 902 (1946). Hinshelwood, C. H., "The Chemical Kinetics of the Bacterial Cell" (Oxford, 1946).

    Google Scholar 

  • Cf. the situation in Paramecium: Sonneborn, T. M., "Advances in Genetics", 1, 263, 358 (1947).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

DEVI, P., PONTECORVO, G. & HIGGINBOTTOM, C. X-Ray Induced Mutations in Dried Bacteria. Nature 160, 503–504 (1947). https://doi.org/10.1038/160503b0

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/160503b0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing