Effects of Ultra-Violet Light on Hydrogen Bonds in Deoxyribonucleic Acid of Phage T1

Abstract

PHAGE T1, inactivated by formaldehyde, still injects its deoxyribonucleic acid, as can be shown by the degree of reactivation of ‘formaldehyde-hits’¹. The formaldehyde inactivation of T1 is believed to result from a reaction with the amino-groups of the bases in the deoxyribonucleic acid¹. As Staehelin² has shown, formaldehyde in concentrations lower than 1 per cent reacts with free amino-groups of nucleic acids, but it does not react if these groups are involved in hydrogen bondings. Furthermore, the experiments of Nitschmann and Hadorn³ make a formaldehyde reaction with the free imino-groups of the bases improbable.