Nucleic acid economy in bacteria infected with bacteriophage T2. I. Purine and pyrimidine composition.

1. The phosphorus content per infective particle of isolated bacteriophage T2 has been redetermined. It does not exceed 1.8 to 2.2 x 10(-11) microg. The equivalent amount of DNA has been defined in terms of several analytical methods and taken as a unit of measurement of intrabacterial DNA. 2. The DNA of E. coli contains guanine, adenine, cytosine, and thymine in approximately equal amounts, but no hydroxymethylcytosine. One bacterial cell contains 40 to 150 units of DNA, depending on the conditions of growth and the method of measurement. 3. The DNA of phage T2 (one unit per particle by definition) contains guanine, 5-hydroxymethylcytosine, and relatively large amounts of adenine and thymine, but no cytosine. 4. Infected bacteria contain DNA of a composition that varies systematically during the course of viral growth. At all times it resembles a mixture of bacterial and viral DNA. 5. The characteristic bacterial DNA is decomposed after infection, measuring about one-third its initial amount at 20 minutes. The characteristic viral DNA increases in amount, after a short delay, reaching a level of 100 to 400 units per bacterium 30 minutes after infection. At 10 minutes after infection, the two kinds of DNA are approximately equal in amount. 6. The characteristic viral DNA present in infected cells exists in two forms, one consisting of infective particles and one not. The portion not contained in infective particles builds up to 40 to 80 units per cell during the first 10 minutes after infection and afterwards remains roughly constant in amount. Infective particles begin to appear at 10 minutes and account for all or most of the increase thereafter.