The peculiar advantage offered bp luniiiious bacteria for biological investigations lias been exploited for a number of purposes (5011iison, '51) and it has been pointed out that these bacteria are highly suitable for radiobiological investigations (Harvey, '52). There has been work on the effects of ultrariolet light on luminous bacteria (Giese, '41), but with the exception of a qualitative study of the effect of various amounts of radon dissolved in culture media on the luininescence of bacteria grown on these media (Rerabek and Hykesova, '37) and a n investigation of the effect of various x-ray doses on the colony-forming abilitv of Achroniobacter fischeri (Lorenz and Hensham, '4l), there is alniost nothing to be found. The purpose of this investigation was to explore tlie suitability of one species of lnininons bacteria f o r radiobiological studies.
EXPERIMENTAL
The bacteria used in this work were grown from a culture of ,"Lchromobacter fischeri, strain of F. H. Johnson, obtained from This paper is baser1 on work performed under coiltract with the United States Atomic Energy Commissioii a t The Uiiiwrsitp of Rochester, Atomic Energy Project, Rochester, Kew York.
This paper is based on a thesis submitted in partial fulfillmeiit of the requirements f o r the degree of Doetor of Philosophy.