Abstract
IN an earlier report the isolation of a single-stranded DNA from highly purified vaccinia virus was described1. The DNA was extracted under mild conditions with water-saturated phenol and deoxycholate, according to the standard procedure used for obtaining purified and undegraded nucleic acids from many other viruses and micro-organisms2. It was considered unlikely that this single-stranded DNA was derived by denaturation of originally double-stranded DNA as a result of phenol treatment; first, because there are no reports in the extensive literature that phenol extraction at 4° C. can cause such degradation, and secondly because salmon-sperm DNA treated in our laboratory with the identical procedure used for vaccinia showed no evidence of denaturation. Despite repeated attempts to improve the yield of phenol-extracted DNA from vaccinia, the method was quantitatively unsatisfactory as not more than 10–20 per cent of the total viral DNA was recovered. Alternative methods of isolating the DNA from the virus in higher yield and in as pure a form as possible have therefore been investigated.
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PFAU, C., McCREA, J. Release of Deoxyribonucleic Acid from Vaccinia Virus by 2-Mercaptoethanol and Pronase. Nature 194, 894–895 (1962). https://doi.org/10.1038/194894a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/194894a0
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