COMPARISON OF DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC ACID CONTENT IN THE GENUS MYCOBACTERIUM

Abstract

The DNA content per mg (wet weight or dry weight) of cells of the genus Mycobacterium varied from strain to strain. It differed even within the same species. However, the DNA content appeared to be constant for each strain.
It seemed that the DNA content of the genus Mycobacterium tended to be a multiple of the amount found in the strain showing the least.
A parallelism between the DNA content and the complexity of the genetic response, in respect to drug resistance, has been discussed.