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A D HERSHEY

Publications and source records attributed to A D HERSHEY.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Sedimentation rate as a measure of molecular weight of DNA.

Zone centrifugation of mixtures of two labeled DNA's at low concentrations in density gradients of sucrose permits accurate measurement of relative sedimentation rates. The individual rates are constant during the run. Measurements with DNA's from phages T2, T5, and lambda conform to the relation D(2)/D(1) = (M(2)/M(1))(0.35), where D and M refer to distances sedimented and molecular weights of the DNA pair. The results show that high molecular weight DNA's sediment artificially fast in the optical centrifuge, owing to a hitherto unknown effect of molecular interactions. The molecular weight of lambda DNA is 31 million, measured either from sedimentation rate or from tests of fragility under shear.

Bacteriophage T4↗

Conservation of nucleic acids during bacterial growth.

In experiments of 6 hours duration, no replacement of phosphorus or purine and pyrimidine carbon in DNA, nor flow of these atoms from RNA to DNA, could be detected in rapidly growing cultures of E. coli. The slow replacement that has been demonstrated for many substances in non-proliferating tissues of other organisms, though it may occur also in bacteria, is not greatly accelerated under conditions of rapid cellular growth, and therefore cannot be a characteristic feature of synthetic processes.

Bacteria↗