| Abstract: | Abstract— 6-4‘-pyrimidin-2’-one]-thymine (PO-T), a deamination product of a cytosine–thymine adduct accounted for about 17 per cent of the total detectable thymine-derived photoproducts in u.v.-irradiated Micrococcus radiodurans. On incubation of the irradiated cells, oligonucleotides containing the photoproducts were released into the medium. After various periods of incubation the different photoproducts were isolated both from the cells and from the medium. Analysis of these different photoproducts showed that during the excision process the ratio of PO–T to total thymine-derived products remained constant both in the cells and in the medium. This shows that the precursor to PO–T is excised at the same rate as the other thymine-derived photoproducts by the dark repair mechanisms exhibited by this radiation-resistant organism. |
