Persistence of small fragments of newly synthesized DNA in bacteria following thymidine starvation

Abstract

Thymine starvation of Escherichia coli results in the accumulation of Okazaki fragments. This is interpreted to mean that DNA ligase is inhibited in a thyminestarved cell. However phage λ covalent circles still form in such a starved cell. It is suggested that this is because only a very low level of ligase activity is necessary for this conversion. © 1971.