The integration of donor and recipient deoxyribonucleic acid during transformation of Bacillus subtilis

Abstract

1. DNA labelled with 5-bromo[(3)H]uracil was used to transform auxotrophic strains of Bacillus subtilis. 2. After various times of incubation, DNA was extracted from the transformed culture and subjected to equilibrium sedimentation in caesium chloride gradients. 3. In addition to heavy donor DNA and light recipient DNA, a component with an intermediate density was found and is believed to consist of a biological hybrid of donor and recipient. 4. The component of intermediate density was isolated and found to possess activity in transformation derived from both donor and recipient strains. 5. Denaturation of the component of intermediate density followed by centrifugation gave only one component, indicating that integration had occurred in both strands of the recipient DNA. 6. No integrated band was observed after uptake by competent cells of B. subtilis of heavy DNA prepared from Escherichia coli.