Effect of iododeoxyuridine upon conjugation and the fate of transferred deoxyribonucleic acid in Escherichia coli K-12.

The incorporation of 5-iododeoxyuridine (IUdR) into Escherichia coli K-12 deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) has been found to decrease significantly the viability of female strains A288 and JC411(r) but to have only minor effect upon their ability to act as conjugational recipients and to perform recombination after conjugation. In contrast, IUdR incorporation into male strain HfrC appears to interfere with both chromosome transfer and genetic recombination. By using IUdR to densitylabel female DNA, and carrying out large-scale matings with (3)H-thymidine-labeled male cells, we examined the fate of transferred DNA. After a 30-min mating, the T6-sensitive male cells were lysed, and the DNA of the merozygotes and remaining female cells was isolated. Initial centrifugation of this DNA in a CsCl gradient showed that the male and female DNA species were associated. The nature of this association of the parental DNA species was determined by formaldehyde denaturation followed by CsCl centrifugation. Denaturation of DNA isolated immediately after T6 lysis gave a peak of radioactivity banding at the density of light single-stranded DNA. However, denaturation of DNA isolated after T6 lysis and dilution of the cells into fresh medium, exhibited peaks of radioactivity banding at positions corresponding to single-stranded, density-labeled DNA. The results indicate that recombination after conjugation in E. coli takes place by a breakage-and-reunion mechanism. The process of recombination can be separated into two stages. In the first stage, the donor and recipient DNA molecules become associated. The second stage consists of the formation of phosphodiester bonds between the donor and recipient segments comprising the recombinant molecule.