Determination of the base composition of deoxyribonucleic acid by measurement of the adenine/guanine ratio

Abstract

A method is described for determination of the base composition (as guanine+cytosine or adenine+thymine content) of DNA by accurate measurement of the adenine/guanine ratio. The DNA is hydrolysed with 0·03n-hydrochloric acid for 40min. to release the purines. The hydrolysate is subjected to ion-exchange chromatography on Zeo-Karb 225. Apurinic acids are eluted with 0·03n-hydrochloric acid and then guanine and adenine are eluted separately with 2n-hydrochloric acid. Guanine and adenine are each collected as a single fraction, and the amount of base in each case is determined by measuring the volume and the extinction at suitable wavelengths. For use in the calculations, millimolar extinction coefficients in 2n-hydrochloric acid of 12·09 for adenine at 262mμ, and 10·77 for guanine at 248mμ, were determined with authentic samples of bases. The method gives extremely reproducible results: from 12 determinations with calf thymus DNA the adenine/guanine molar ratio had a standard deviation of 0·011; this corresponds to a standard deviation in guanine+cytosine content of 0·2% guanine+cytosine.