The Nucleic Acid Composition of Bacteriophage oR

Abstract

Bacteriophage [PHI]R was prepared and purified in sufficient quantity to determine the composition and base ratios of its nucleic acid. The ratios are such that the complementary double-stranded structure usually found in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) seems unlikely to be present. This observation and the accessibility of the DNA of phage [PHI] R to the action of formaldehyde support the view that phage [PHI]R, like phage [PHI]X-174 which it resembles, carries its nucleic acid in a single strand.