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The Effects of Purine and Pyrimidines Upon Transformation in Tetrahymena vorax , Strain V 2 S 1
Author(s) -
BUTZEL HENRY M.,
FISCHER JANICE
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
the journal of protozoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.067
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1550-7408
pISSN - 0022-3921
DOI - 10.1111/j.1550-7408.1983.tb02910.x
Subject(s) - nucleic acid , hypoxanthine , purine metabolism , chemistry , purine , absorbance , uridine , biochemistry , chromatography , rna , gene , enzyme
Column chromatography with Biogel P2 (molecular exclusion of 1800 daltons) indicates that the transforming principle causing microstomes to become macrostomes is a small molecule. Absorbance tests show that only those fractions with high absorbance at 260 nm have biological activity, indicating that the active principle is a component of nucleic acids. Tests of purines and pyrimidines show that purines are active, with hypoxanthine having the highest activity. The combination of hypoxanthine with uridine shows a synergistic reaction. As these two compounds are the natural catabolic excretory products from nucleic acids in Tetrahymena , the fact that they induce transformation in concentrated, starving cells may be a survival mechanism allowing cannibalism to be induced when nutrients are depleted, thereby allowing the survival of the transformed cells until such time as adequate nutritional conditions are restored.