Synthesis of protein in a purine-requiring Escherichia coli infected with bacteriophage T2

Abstract

When a purine-requiring mutant (B-96) of Escherichia coli is infected with T2r phage, net synthesis of deoxyribonucleic acid requires a supply of exogenous purine. Direct and indirect evidence is presented that exogenous purines are not required for the synthesis of either the structural proteins of the phage or the enzymes necessary for the synthesis of phage deoxyribonucleic acid. Even when exogenous adenine is not supplied, the nucleic acids of the bacterial cell undergo conversions which characteristically follow infection with phage T2. Cytosine of the deoxyribonucleic acid is replaced by 5-hydroxymethylcytosine and P32-labelled inorganic phosphate is incorporated into ribonucleic acid with an altered distribution among the nucleotides obtained by alkaline hydrolysis.