Criticism of the use of methylated albumin-kieselguhr chromatography for the isolation of metabolically labile DNA

Onset of nucleic acid synthesis during germination of Pisum sativum L

Measurments of total nucleic acid content of the embryonic axis indicated that massive net synthesis of both DNA and RNA was initiated at approximately 30 h after the onset of germination. The onset of net nucleic acid synthesis was marked by an increase in the rate of incorporation of [(3)H]thymidine into DNA, and of [(3)H]orotic acid and [(3)H]uridine into both DNA and RNA. rRNA was usually more heavily labelled than tRNA, but was not preferentially accumulated, suggesting a grater rate of turnover of rRNA than tRNA. Some incorporation of precursors occurred prior to the onset of net nucleic acid synthesis, particularly into RNA. This was taken to represent nucleic acid turnover. There was no evidence that the "scavenging" pathways for nucleotide biosynthesis were more important than the "normal" pathways in contributing precursors for net nucleic acid synthesis.

Metabolically labile DNA in aseptically grown seedlings of Pisum sativum L

Pea seedlings (Pisum sativum L.) were grown aseptically in a sterile flexible film animal isolator. Radioactivity from [Me-(3)H]thymidine, supplied to the roots of the seedlings, was specifically incorporated into pea DNA. There was no incorporation into RNA or into bacterial DNA; neither was there any non-specific binding of label to carbohydrate. Much of the radioactivity incorporated into the DNA was lost during a cold chase. The loss could not be accounted for by net DNA synthesis and cell division, and is therefore taken as strong evidence for DNA turnover. The significance of these results is discussed.