The distribution of radioactive recovery in randomly cut and sedimented DNA

Abstract

Viral DNA is studied by the technique of radioactive labelling and subsequent ultra centrifugation which separates it from reference DNA according to length or density. One hypothesis that frequently is of service is that the strands of DNA being studied are randomly cut along their lengths. Often the average number of cuts, λ, per unit length is either known by the nature of the experiment or is desired as a statistic. If radioactive phosphorous, P³², is used to label the DNA, e.g., 6 P³² atoms per unit length of 200,000 nucleotides (each of which is connected to its neighbor by two phosphorous-containing links) then within two weeks about 3 P³² atoms will have decayed and the DNA obtained, once separated into single stranded form (denatured), will form a predictable distribution of sizes. Of course 3 decays may be obtained more quickly by starting with more than 6 P³² atoms per unit length.