TRANSFORMATION IN BACILLUS SUBTILIS

II. INFLUENCE OF A PROTEIN FRACTION BOUND TO DNA ON THE TRANSFORMING ACTIVITY

Abstract

DNA of B. subtilis, extracted according to Marmur but deproteinized in the apparatus described in the preceding paper of this series, has a higher transforming efficiency and a higher percentage protein content than DNA obtained exclusively by the Marmur method. Experiments were carried out in order to establish whether the higher transforming ability was due to the higher residual content of proteins. Results obtained by the action of Pronase on both samples of DNA support this hypothesis.