A SIMPLE AND RAPID EXPERIMENTAL PROTOCOL FOR STUDIES OF NUCLEIC-ACIDS METABOLISM AND THEIR BASE COMPOSITION

A suitable, simple and rapid protocol for metabolic studies of nucleic acids and determining their base composition, using reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography is described. Modified classic methods of isolation of the nucleic acids fraction from a biological material, in our particular case Artemia sp., were used. Then analysis of their constituents and the incorporated radioactivity, after hydrolytic processes, was performed by high-performance liquid chromatography under isocratic conditions, with 9 min total retention time. This method may be applied in several aspects of nucleic acids research, such as molecular cloning or metabolic and phylogenetic studies.