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The World of Protozoa, Rotifera, Nematoda and Oligochaeta

Ref ID : 4073

Henry M. Butzel and Janice Fischer; The Effects of Purine and Pyrimidines Upon Transformation in Tetrahymena vorax, Strain V2S. J.Protozool. 30(2):247-250, 1983

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Column chromatography with Biogel P2 (molecular exclusion of 1800 daltons) indicates that the transforming principle causing microstomes to become macrostomes is a small molecule. Absorbance tests show that only those fractions with high absorbance at 260 nm have biological activity, indicating that the active principle is a component of nucleic acids. Tests of purines and pyrimidines show that purines are active, with hypoxanthine having the highest activity. The combination of hypoxanthine with uridine shows a synergistic reaction. As these two compounds are the natural catabolic excretory products from nucleic acids in Tetrahymena, the fact that they induce transformation in concentrated, starving cells may be a survival mechanism allowing cannibalism to be induced when nutrients are depleted, thereby allowing the survival of the transformed cells until such time as adequate nutritional conditions are restored.