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J Virol. 1969 February; 3(2): 164-170
Copyright © 1969 American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Biological Activity of 5-Hydroxymethyluracil and Its Deoxynucleoside in Noninfected and Phageinfected Bacillus subtilis

Department of Cell Biology and Pharmacology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201

ABSTRACT

¹⁴C-hydroxymethyldeoxyuridine (dHMU) is specifically incorporated into the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of bacteriophage SP8. Incorporation experiments demonstrate that the initiation of phage SP8 DNA synthesis occurs between 12.5 to 15 min after infection. Incorporation into host DNA does not occur. ¹⁴C-dHMU can be used as an analytical tool for screening conditionally lethal phage mutants containing hydroxymethyluracil in their DNA to select those that are defective in DNA synthesis under restrictive conditions. The pyrimidine, ¹⁴C-hydroxymethyluracil (HMU), is not incorporated into bacterial or phage DNA. Neither HMU nor dHMU can replace thymine as a growth requirement for Bacillus subtilis 168 Ind^– Thy^–. HMU does not inhibit the utilization of thymine. Although dHMU inhibits deoxythymidine utilization, the inhibition is not competitive.

¹ Postdoctoral fellow of the American Cancer Society.