DNA uptake by Streptomyces species.

Uptake of homologous and heterologous radioactively labelled DNA was studied in ten Streptomyces species. Among these, S. kasugaensis and S. virginiae were shown to take up 0.5-2.0% of the supplied donor DNA at a well-defined point in their growth cycle. The heterologous donor DNA taken up retained its original buoyant density in CsCl gradients. Other strains either extensively degraded the donor DNA or showed poor uptake efficiency.