The lack of L-azidoalanine interaction with DNA. In vitro studies.

A Bacillus subtilis transformation system was used to investigate the possible direct effect of L-azidoalanine on DNA in vitro. A B. subtilis (trp-) deletion and repair deficient (uvr-) strain was constructed and used as a recipient for treated DNA. The data obtained indicate that L-azidoalanine, at the described conditions, does not interact with DNA in vitro. Thus, L-azidoalanine failed to produce any DNA damage even in the absence of an excision repair mechanism.