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Mutants of Escherichia coli K12 Lacking Thymine

Abstract

INVESTIGATION of the genetic controlling mechanism of DNA synthesis became the problem of to-day after the main features of an enzymatic pathway of DNA biosynthesis had been cleared up. A biosynthetic stage, where such a controlling mechanism is suspected to exist, is the synthesis of thymidilic acid, the most specific of DNA precursors. The thymidilic acid synthesis in E. coli is known1 to be produced by methylating deoxyuridine monophosphate (dUMP) to deoxythymidine monophosphate (dTMP). The reaction is controlled by thymidilate synthetase and tetrahydrofolate as a cofactor2.

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ALIKHANIAN, S., ILJINA, T., KALIAEVA, E. et al. Mutants of Escherichia coli K12 Lacking Thymine. Nature 206, 848–849 (1965). https://doi.org/10.1038/206848a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/206848a0

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