Abstract
THE species specificity and functional role of rare bases in DNA have not been thoroughly studied and there are few data on the occurrence of rare bases in bacterial DNA. The commonest rare base in bacterial DNA is 6-methyl-aminopurine (6-MAP)1–4, but recently some bacterial DNAs were shown to contain 5-methylcytosine (5-MC) as well5. The incorporation of the 14CH3-group from labelled methionine or S-adenosylmethionine is often taken as a measure of the amount of 6-MAP and 5-MC in the DNA of bacteria5–7 and other micro-organisms8. But this way of determining rare bases is not always reliable because it is possible that there are other methyl donors besides methionine. Moreover, labelled methionine may be metabolized and incorporated into the heterocyclic ring of newly formed bases.
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VANYUSHIN, B., BELOZERSKY, A., KOKURINA, N. et al. 5-Methylcytosine and 6-Methylaminopurine in Bacterial DNA. Nature 218, 1066–1067 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1038/2181066a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2181066a0
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