Historic nucleic acids isolated by Friedrich Miescher contain RNA besides DNA.
DNA in Nuclein
Nuclein
Nuclein analysis
RNA in Nuclein
nucleic acid discovery
nucleic acid isolation
Journal
Biological chemistry
ISSN: 1437-4315
Titre abrégé: Biol Chem
Pays: Germany
ID NLM: 9700112
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
27 09 2021
27 09 2021
Historique:
received:
10
04
2021
accepted:
22
06
2021
entrez:
15
9
2021
pubmed:
16
9
2021
medline:
30
12
2021
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
One hundred fifty years ago, Friedrich Miescher discovered DNA when he isolated "Nuclein"-as he named it-from nuclei of human pus cells. Miescher recognized his isolate as a new type of molecule equal in importance to proteins. He realised that it is an acid of large molecular weight and high phosphorus content. Subsequently, he discovered Nuclein also in the nuclei of other cell types, realised that it chemically defines the nucleus, and speculated on its role in proliferation, heredity and fertilisation. While now universally recognised as the discoverer of DNA, whether Miescher also discovered RNA has not yet been addressed. To determine whether his isolation also yielded RNA, we first reproduced his historic protocols. Our resulting modern Nuclein contained a significant percentage of RNA. Encouraged by this result, we then analysed a sample of Nuclein isolated by Miescher from salmon sperm. Assuming that the RNA present in this sample had degraded to nucleobases, we tested for the presence of uracil in the historic Nuclein. Detection of significant levels of uracil by LC-UV-MS demonstrates that Miescher isolated both forms of nucleic acid-DNA and RNA-and underlines the fundamental nature of his discovery for the field of molecular genetics.
Identifiants
pubmed: 34523295
pii: hsz-2021-0226
doi: 10.1515/hsz-2021-0226
doi:
Substances chimiques
RNA
63231-63-0
DNA
9007-49-2
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
1179-1185Informations de copyright
© 2021 Andreas Thess et al., published by De Gruyter, Berlin/Boston.
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