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J Bacteriol. 1971 September; 107(3): 889-899
Copyright © 1971 American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Bacterial Inactivation of Transforming Deoxyribonucleate

¹ Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139

ABSTRACT

Competent and noncompetent bacteria are able to bind deoxyribonucleate (DNA). The consequence of this binding is different for the two types of bacteria. Competent bacteria are able to utilize the DNA for transformation. DNA exposed to noncompetent bacteria loses its biological activity with a coincident reduction in the double-stranded molecular weight. The reduction in molecular weight does not appear to be sufficient to account for the loss of biological activity observed.