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J Bacteriol. 1968 May; 95(5): 1627-1633
Copyright © 1968 American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Cell Division During Inhibition of Deoxyribonucleic Acid Synthesis in Escherichia coli

¹ Radiation Physics Section, Roswell Park Memorial Institute, Buffalo, New York 14203
² Department of Biophysics, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14214

ABSTRACT

When cultures of Escherichia coli B/r growing at various rates were exposed to ultraviolet light, mitomycin C, or nalidixic acid, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesis stopped but cell division continued for at least 20 min. The chromosome configurations in the cells which divided were estimated by determining the rate of DNA synthesis during the division cycle. The cultures were pulse-labeled with ¹⁴C-thymidine, and the amount of label incorporated into cells of different ages was found by measuring the radioactivity in cells born subsequent to the labeling period. The cells which divided in the absence of DNA synthesis were those which had completed a round of chromosome replication prior to the treatments. It was concluded that completion of a round of replication is a necessary and sufficient condition of DNA synthesis for cell division.