REPLICATIVE FRAGMENTATION IN T4 PHAGE: INHIBITION BY CHLORAMPHENICOL

Abstract
Chloramphenicol (CM), an inhibitor of protein synthesis, prevents DNA of T4 bacteriophage from fragmentation but permits its semiconservative replication. Apparently CM inhibits an enzyme responsible for recombination between molecules. The semiconservative replicative moiety of DNA (in CM), analyzed in sucrose zone centrifugation, indicates similarity of size with conservative DNA. No recombination between input parental molecules could be detected, suggesting that recombination occurs pari passu with replication of DNA.