On the Topography of the Genetic Fine Structure
- Creators
- Benzer, Seymour
Abstract
In an earlier paper [1], a detailed examination was made of the structure of a small portion of the genetic map of phage T4, the rII region. This region, which controls the ability of the phage to grow in Escherichia coli strain K, consists of two adjacent cistrons, or functional units. Various rII mutants, unable to grow in strain K, have mutations affecting various parts of either or both of these cistrons. The topology of the region; i.e., the manner in which its parts are interconnected, was intensively tested and it was found that the active structure can be described as a string of subelements, a mutation constituting an alteration of a point or segment of the linear array. This paper is a sequel in which inquiry is made into the topography of the structure, i.e., local differences in the properties of its parts. Specifically, are all the subelements equally mutable? If so, mutations should occur at random throughout the structure and the topography would be trivial. On the other hand, sites or regions of unusually high or low mutability would be interesting topographic features.
Additional Information
© 1961 by the National Academy of Sciences Read before the Academy, April 27, 1960. Given by invitation of the Committee on Arrangements for the Annual Meeting as part of a Symposium on Genetic Determination of Protein Structure, Robley C. Williams, Chairman. It is a pleasure to thank Mrs. Karen Sue Supple, Mrs. Joan Reynolds, and Mrs. Lynne Bryant for their indefatigable assistance in mapping mutants and bookkeeping. I am indebted to Dr. Robert S. Edgar and his associates for permission to make use of their unpublished data in Figure 5 and to Dr. Ernst Freese for several deletions as well as mutants induced with 2-aminopurine and 5-bromodeoxyuridine. This research was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.Attached Files
Published - BENpnas61a.pdf
Files
Name | Size | Download all |
---|---|---|
md5:e03945332faaf9880ce14428100cc264
|
3.3 MB | Preview Download |
Additional details
- PMCID
- PMC221592
- Eprint ID
- 6181
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:BENpnas61a
- NSF
- NIH
- Created
-
2006-11-28Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
-
2021-11-08Created from EPrint's last_modified field