Alkali-labile Sites in Biologically Active DNA: Comparison of Radiation Induced Potential Breaks and Apurinic Sites

Abstract

Gamma-ray induced alkali-labile sites, which are converted into breaks by alkali or heat, are compared with apurinic sites in both single-stranded and phi X174RF-DNA. It is shown that the kinetics of the conversion into breaks are completely different for both sites. The conclusion is: the gamma-ray induced alkali-labile sites are not identical with apurinic or/and apyrimidinic sites.