Mail/, draft Sun Apr 15 18:01:30 1990 i

To: (Dr, Markus Durrenberger) K226110@czhrzula.bitnet
Reply-to: (J. Lederbérg) lederberg@rocky2.rockefeller.edu
Subject: E. coli conjugation

Thank you so much for your letter of March 30. It was
thrilling to see your photomicrographs, and I was delighted
that you are returning to complete and PUBLISH your findings.
In any event, congratulations for what you have already
pictured!

I need to study your ms. more carefully; but in the absence

of a direct observation of the passage of a DNA strand, it will
be difficult to make a finally persuasive conclusion about

the functioning of the conjugational structures you have
figured. Do you have a way to visualize DNA in these sections?

  

Do you think there is any possibility that qualitatively
new substances are formed in these junctions (as with tight
junctions in endothelia) -~ in which case you might be able
to raise antibodies specific for them.

APR 15 j9099