Degradation of Nucleic Acids and their Related Compounds by Microbial Enzymes

Abstract

The distribution in microorganisms of extracellular enzymes which degrade DNA into deoxymononucleotides was studied. The degradation products of DNA were determined by using 5′-nucleotidase and prostatic nonspecific phosphomonoesterase. It was found that except Bacillus subtilis IFO 3302, the microorganisms which produced the enzymes that catalyze the degradation of RNA into 5′-mononucleotides, produced the enzymes capable of hydrolyzing DNA into 5′-deoxymononucleotides, whereas the microorganisms which produced such enzymes that degrade RNA into 3′-mononuclcotides did not generally produce the enzymes which hydrolyze DNA.