The inactivating and mutagenic effect of hydroxylamine on bacteriophage φX174

Abstract

The inactivation of bacteriophage ΦXI74 by the mutagenic agents nitrous acid and ultraviolet irradiation proceeds according to a single-hit kinetics. However, treatment of purified ΦXI74 by hydroxylamine (HA) at pH 6 and 25° results in an inactivation that is not strictly exponential. The inactivation curves contain a shoulder, which is easily detectable at a HA concentration of o.1 M. The ultimate slope of the curves at this concentration is in many cases greater than at 1 M.