Abstract
First, samples taken from the infected cells at different times were irradiated with ultraviolet light in order to obtain a set of Luria-Latarjet curves. Secondly, and with the same culture of infected cells, the kinetics of phage DNA synthesis was followed using a density gradient technique.
A comparison of these results suggests that the radiation stability shown by the Luria-Latarjet curves is first detectable at about the time that phage DNA synthesis commences. The radiation stability, however, increases at a rate which is much faster than the rate of replication of the parental phage DNA.
† This work was carried out when both authors were members of the Medical Research Council Microbial Genetics Research Unit, then at Hammersmith Hospital, London, W.12.