B. Currant dlrectians

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!!%a folledng item indicati lin6s of work wh%oh are in active prog~err

subeeqpnt to the formal date af terrlnation ef thin report~and beyond thk

lin66 which are alr66dy implicit ia the preview lnverff~tionr.
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  1, Wlaro6c6ple Irelation of 6ymt66 in E. ooli.

9!6&mlquee are being assirilated &l eth6r6 Qn6l6p6d for the direct

microecopio i6olation of 6ymt66.  Already af6wlM.wdpair6efbaot6riafrom
mixed culture have b6an 66parated srd proven ta be, ind66d. r6lwant be the

66m3al prOc666.  !Phese rtudi6p rhould make porralble a aernlatien of the ap

pearance of living oultarer ef ??? o ?????? an& fired ratorial, but it16 not

yet poclaible to u66v6rat6 the role ef the q$araat eoaju& psirr in fi&Ur6

1. .

2. X0 8onnsctlon with a tmporcrrf rimit of Pr6fe66or S. Rubbe (lB6partmmt

bf BaoWriole~, Dnlrarrity of W@lbourno) a few ezperim~ts are being earrid
                                                       a
out in geut.  *e main burdaa of there ex@rlm6nt6 16/t~ontpar160a of tllu

conjugal procerssr in y6aat with there ef bacteria, and attempta to uparata

the mdxuaicsms of tramfer ef nuelemr.and eytoplacmic elsr~t8.in the 66xual

proeaaa, baaed on the werk ef @hr&rri'la Pada.

3. h preriOa6 rtudies on the g6netic 6Ontrol af th6 formation of the aasymo

lactase in Beuheriehia eeli It had bmn noted that the 1lHng baetsria di6plw6d

a maah 16w6r. 16-l of setirity tlmn th6y did after treatmnt with 6aoh6g6ntr

ar bansene.  Dr. Berfr Batnan, in collaboratien tith Prof668or B, A. Lard$ of

the Bn6yme In6titut6 Crpa myrelf, has taken q thlr probl6m, qaln, af th6

apparent reiylatlon of intraoellular laota66.  T!ho bonsano treatmeat appear6
to rasalt in the 86paratlen of large amaunt 6f nucl610 add while the 6nxym6

ir left behind in the bacteria, and it appears likely that the aotiratfea w
benreae ia the result of the release of either muzlela airid ar some ether Go

af rpecifie regulator from the baot6riru.  PreTiow rtutue6l?y6n6y86 eh6d6C6


-2-

have told us much more about the wwurrenue of eutsymea and their behavior in

iwlated 6yEIt66i6 t&m their ,lntegrated fb.?di~ting mni with iutmt Ce116a snd
this 6yrt6m may have unusual 6dmk3dag66 for con8lderaticin of the latter pro&

4. Dr. Aleck Bernstein is proceeding with a comparison of the physico-chemkal

properties of the two arkgenic types of flagella found in SalmoneUa,~~&#~#~
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"specific" and "group'* phase. Cells carrying these fAagel2.a differ in their
agglutinability by acrifl&rirve dyes, $$j! the chemical basis of this difference,
not yet elucidated, may help tge understanding of the genetic differentiation

between them.

5. Dr. L. L. Weed(at MMmmcm the dy4 AMS Graduate School, Washington1 had discovered

and privately tieported to us that copper had a remarBable effect of "inducing"     \

s;nall-colony variants in E. coli. 14s he is primkrfiy interested in the bioche&xl
                                     1~

alterations, we agreed to collaborate on the genetic aspects. Miss Helen Byers in
                  N=v

this laboratory has reproduced the aw$nrx findings, but it is not yet establi$lcd

wikh whether the copper is actively inducing the genetic defect, or whether spontsneous

copper-resistant mutants happen also to have the small-colony metabolic defect.
As mentioned elsewhere, most cases of specific induced mutations in bacteria (as

distinct from transductibns) have evaporated on careful analysis, but this case

has not yet been sufficiently studied.