@article{mbs:/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-4-3-399, author = "Mitchell, P.", title = "Spectrophotometric Estimation of Nucleic Acid in Bacterial Suspensions", journal= "Microbiology", year = "1950", volume = "4", number = "3", pages = "399-409", doi = "https://doi.org/10.1099/00221287-4-3-399", url = "https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-4-3-399", publisher = "Microbiology Society", issn = "1465-2080", type = "Journal Article", abstract = "SUMMARY: A method is described for measuring the purine-pyrimidine absorption of Micrococcus pyogenes var. aureus (strain Duncan) (M. pyogenes; Staphylococcus aureus) in intact cell suspensions with the Beckman Model DU spectrophotometer, from which values for the total ‘nucleic acid’ content of the cells may be obtained. The approximate nature of the method is discussed, but results are presented which show that the values obtained throughout a normal growth of a culture of M. pyogenes compare very favourably with the values given by the Schmidt & Thannhauser (1945) technique. Some observations on Escherichia coli (strain H) suggest that the method may be applicable to organisms other than Micrococcus pyogenes.", }