Superproduction of heavy minicircular mitochondrial DNA in aging wheat coleoptiles. |
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| Authors: | J P Salaün D Weissbart C Helvig F Durst P Pflieger H Bosch C Mioskowski |
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| Affiliation: | A.N. Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology, Moscow State University, USSR. |
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| Abstract: | On incubation of 7-day-old wheat seedlings in the presence of [3H]thymidine, the radioactivity incorporated into coleoptile DNA is found to be localized mainly (greater than 95%) in the fraction of heavy mitochondrial DNA (H-mt DNA; rho = 1.716 gm/cm3). Upon long (48-72 h) incubation of cut-off seedlings in water, the amount of this DNA shows a dramatic increase and corresponds to about 10% of the total coleoptile DNA. H-mtDNA is represented by open circular molecules with a contour length varying from 0.12 to 0.6 microns. The functional role of this DNA is still unknown. |
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