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. 1974 Apr;118(1):175–179. doi: 10.1128/jb.118.1.175-179.1974

Effect of Thymine-5-Bromouracil Substitution on F Pili

Paula Fives-Taylor 1, Charles P Novotny 1
PMCID: PMC246654  PMID: 4595195

Abstract

The effect of thymine-5-bromouracil substitution on the regeneration and length of F pili produced by an F+Lac+/Lac−Thy− strain of Escherichia coli was studied by electron microscopy. When 5-bromouracil (5BU) incorporation into deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was maximal, the modal length of the pilus doubled and the number of pili per cell was approximately 50% that of thymine-grown cells. The ability of 5BU-grown cells to form mating pairs and to be infected by ribonucleic acid (R17) and DNA (M13) male-specific phages was also reduced by approximately 50%. Loss of function was not due to loss of sex factor as 5BU cells retained a sex factor that was susceptible to curing by acridine orange. Elongation of pili on 5BU-grown cells was more sensitive to irradiation at 253.7 nm than on thymine-grown cells, suggesting that DNA is the sensitive target.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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