Abstract
WHEN DNA is treated with potassium permanganate at 37° C and pH 9 for 19 h, the thymine, cytosine and guanine residues are oxidized, but the adenine residues are unaffected1,2. The product (ODNA) is obtained in a high yield as a polymer in which there has been little degradation of the phosphodiester backbone of the DNA. Analytical data and the results of experiments on model compounds2–5 indicated that the thymine, cytosine and guanine residues had been oxidized to ureido residues. In view of the apparent lability of ureido sugars to alkali6,7 it seemed that the ODNA should be degraded by alkali to give oligonucleotides containing adenine. Previous work in which ODNA was degraded with alkali or with hydrazine followed by alkali seemed to support this, and from these results values for the distribution of adenine in DNA from a number of sources were obtained8,9. Reinvestigation of these reactions, and examination of other reactions of ODNA, however, have shown that the structure given before and the results quoted for the adenine distributions of the various samples of DNA were not correct.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Jones, A. S., and Bayley, C. R., Trans. Farad. Soc., 55, 492 (1959).
Jones, A. S., Ross, G. W., Takemura, S., Thompson, T. W., and Walker, R. T., J. Chem. Soc., 373 (1964).
Benn, M. H., Chatamra, B., and Jones, A. S., J. Chem. Soc., 1014 (1960).
Chatamra, B., and Jones, A. S., J. Chem. Soc., 811 (1963).
Jones, A. S., and Walker, R. T., J. Chem. Soc., 3554 (1963).
Benn, M. H., and Jones, A. S., J. Chem. Soc., 3837 (1960).
Jensen, W. E., Jones, A. S., and Ross, G. W., J. Chem. Soc., 2463 (1965).
Jones, A. S., and Walker, R. T., Nature, 202, 24 (1964).
Jones, A. S., and Walker, R. T., Nature, 202, 1108 (1964).
Burton, K., and Petersen, G. B., Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 26, 667 (1957).
Temperli, A., Türler, H., Rust, P., Danon, A., and Chargaff, E., Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 91, 462 (1964).
Bayley, C. R., Brammer, K. W., and Jones, A. S., J. Chem. Soc., 1903 (1961).
Jones, A. S., Mian, A. M., and Walker, R. T., J. Chem. Soc. (C), 692 (1966).
Matsuda, M., and Ogoshi, H., Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 119, 210 (1966).
Burton, K., and Riley, W. T., Biochem. J., 98, 70 (1966).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
DARBY, G., JONES, A., TITTENSOR, J. et al. Chemical Degradation of DMA oxidized by Permanganate. Nature 216, 793–794 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1038/216793a0
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/216793a0
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.
