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Detection of pyrimidine dimers in hydrolysates of yeast DNA by high voltage paper electrophoresis

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Summary

A simplified procedure for studying pyrimidine dimer induction and excision in yeast DNA has been developed. It involved the use of [14C] uracil as a labelled precursor of both RNA and DNA, followed by efficient removal of RNA. Acid-precipitable DNA was hydrolyzed to release pyrimidine bases and these were separated by high voltage paper electrophoresis. Wild type cells of Schizosaccharomyces pombe were irradiated with UV light and shown to excise a large proportion of the induced pyrimidine dimers during a post-irradiation incubation period. The method employed was also shown to be capable of detecting low levels of pyrimidine dimers in [3H] thymine-labelled E. coli DNA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biology and Health Physics Division, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Chalk River, Ontario, Canada

    H. C. Birnboim & A. Nasim

  2. Division of Biological Sciences, National Research Council of Canada, K1A 0R6, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    A. Nasim

Authors
  1. H. C. Birnboim
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  2. A. Nasim
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Communicated by C. Auerbach

With the Technical Assistance of C. Grant

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Birnboim, H.C., Nasim, A. Detection of pyrimidine dimers in hydrolysates of yeast DNA by high voltage paper electrophoresis. Molec. gen. Genet. 130, 291–296 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00333867

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00333867

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