I believe this organism was orginally called Micrococcus radiodurans. The
organism was characterized in: Duggan, D.E. et al. (1959) Food Res. 24:376.
M. radiodurans was characterized by an extraordinary resistance to ionizing
and non-ionizing (UV) radiation. In the 50s and 60s this was suggested to
be due to the presence of multiple chromosomes within each cell, but I don't
recall if this was ever demonstrated definitively. The base DNA composition
(A:T, G:C ratios) was similar to relatively radiation-sensitive organisms
such as Pseudomonas sp. There are a large number of references to M.
radiodurans in the radiation research literature of the 1960s and 1970s.
You might start with the series of volumes Advances in Radiation Research,
published by Academic Press. Also, the journal Radiation Research will have
a number of articles.
Good luck.
Scott Jamison
jamisoncs at accessam.com
Mr. Warren Place wrote in message ...
> Hi,
> I have decided to chase this bug as an independent project for my
> Bacteriology class. Any help with isolation, source of microbe in nature,
> or characterization is appretiated. I have a few leads, but any good
> references that will further my understanding of this bacteria are also
> appretiated. Thanks for your time,
>Warren Place
>wrp2 at axe.humboldt.edu>www.humboldt.edu/~wrp2
>
