Selection of auxotrophic bacterial mutants by tritium-labeled thymidine

A method is proposed for the efficient isolation of auxotrophic mutants of cells of diverse origin by the use of radioactive materials. An example is described in which mutants of Escherichia coli B were selected by growing irradiated cells in the presence of tritium-labeled thymidine.

Autoradiographic investigations of incorporation of H3-thymidine into cells of the rat and mouse

The application of H(3)-thymidine results in labeling of those nuclei of cells in which deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is synthesized during the interval between application and the sacrifice of tne animal (1-3). This paper reports autoradiographic investigation with H(3)-thymidine of rats and mice. This method permits a more exact statement of the number of dividing cells than does the microscopic estimate of mitosis. The latter method is practically impossible in tissues with small fusiform cells. Moreover, it is possible to obtain information about the relative time of DNA synthesis in different cells.

Autoradiographic study of DNA synthesis and the cell cycle in spermatogonia and spermatocytes of mouse testis using tritiated thymidine

Mice were injected intraperitoneally with 15 µc of H³-thymidine. The time course of the labeling in spermatogonia and spermatocytes was studied by using autoradiography on 5 µ sections stained by the periodic acid-Schiff method and hematoxylin over a period of 57 hours after injection. Four generations of type A (called AI, AII, AIII, and AIV), one of intermediate, and one of type B spermatogonia occur in one cycle of the seminiferous epithelium. The average life span is about the same in all spermatogonia, i.e., about 27 to 30.5 hours. The average pre-DNA synthetic time, including the mitotic stages from metaphase through telophase and the portion of interphase preceding DNA synthesis, is also not very different, ranging between 7.5 and 10.5 hours. A remarkable difference exists, however, in the duration of DNA synthesis and of the post-DNA synthetic period. The average DNA synthetic time is very long and is highly variable in type B (14.5 hours), a little shorter and less variable in intermediate (12.5 hours) and AIV (13 hours) spermatogonia, and much shorter and very constant in AIII (8 hours), AII and AI (7 to 7.5 hours) spermatogonia. Conversely, the average post-DNA synthetic time, corresponding essentially to the duration of the prophase, is short and very constant in type B (4.5 hours), longer and variable in intermediate (6 hours) and AIV (8 hours) spermatogonia, and much longer and much more variable in AIII (11 hours), AII and AI (14 hours) spermatogonia. The premeiotic synthesis of DNA takes place in primary spermatocytes during the resting phase and terminates just before the visible onset of the meiotic prophase. Its average duration is 14 hours. No further synthesis of DNA takes place in later stages of spermatogenesis.