Partial Reassociation Between the Deoxyribonucleic Acids of Neisseria lactamicus and Neisseria meningitidis

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Abstract
The similarity in polynucleotide sequence of seven strains of Neisseria lactamicus to N. meningitidis and to each other was investigated. The per cent reassociation between single-stranded N. lactamicus deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), immobilized on membrane filters, with labeled single-stranded DNA fragments derived from strain SD-6 (group C) of N. meningitidis varied from 75 to 56. With strain ATCC 23972 of N. lactamicus furnishing the labeled DNA fragments, reassociation was 72% with N. meningitidis , 31% with N. subflava , and 98 to 72% with the other strains of N. lactamicus . It is concluded that on the basis of DNA reassociation N. lactamicus can be distinguished from N. meningitidis and N. subflava , but constitutes a relatively heterogeneous species.