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20. In this space make a statement of about 300 words concerning your plans for graduate study
and a professional career. Be as specific as you can regarding your vocational interest and the
course of training you expect to follow in achieving your goal. If you are interested in other
fields closely related to that of your first choice, please indicate them.

Since 1950, I have been studying the process of biochemical muta-
tion in Ustilago honing to elucidate the genetic mechanism of micro-
bial variation in relation to the bicchemical chanse of heritable unit.

I have been interested in the outcome of the genetic studies on
bacterie carried out in your Department, because it involves such
interesting phenomenon as transduction, which seems to indicate a
specific and direct relation between transmissible agent and genetic
change. If I am admitted to the graduate school of “your university,
I would like to study first the fundamental techniques on bacterial
genetics, such as mitant screening, recombination analysis and single-
cell handling, which are essential for further special research works
in the same field. Then I would proceed to the relation between the
transducing unit to the other heritable unit (such as unit of sexual
recombination, mutation, and transforming agent), from the genetic
and biochemical view-voints. Thus I intend tc solve the following
questions:

1. Is the transducing agent nothing but a liberated: batterial«

gene itself?; or is it a part of the gene?; or does it modify
in the function of the gene?: or does it indvce any directed
mutation acting upon the gene?

2. Whegther the transducing agent and the transforming agent

give the same genetic effect but they show any distinction in the
mode of transmission, or they differ in bcth the genetic effect
and the mode of the transmission.

change

3. Whegther it is rossible to‘one type of transducing agent to

the other in vitro, by treating the suspension of liberated agents
by some artificial means, or not.

I am hoping to continue and develop these researches during and after

my graduate school life, and to arrive st a more inclusive view on

the genetic: mechanism of microbial variations in relation to their

biochemical nature.