Mechanism for Radiation Lethality inM. Radiodurans

SummaryAfter irradiation with doses which yield almost 100 per cent survival using ordinary agar plating methods, the cells of M. radiodurans lost their colony-forming ability when the post-irradiation incubation was carried out in the presence of inhibitors of protein or RNA synthesis. This result suggests the relative importance of protein and/or RNA synthesis as primary targets for the killing action of radiation.