In vitro modification of M13 phage single-stranded DNA with 4-hydroxyaminoquinoline 1-oxide (4HAQO) resulted in four kinds of adducts: three guanine adducts, QGI, QGII, and QGIII; and one adenine adduct, QA, at ratios of 16.4 47.3, 13.7, and 22.6, respectively. The carcinogen-modified DNA, initiated with a sequence-defined oligodeoxynucleotide primer, was replicated in vitro with Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I (Klenow fragment) and calf thymus DNA polymerases alpha and beta. The reaction products were analyzed on a DNA-sequencing gel. DNA elongation by DNA polymerase I was arrested at putative guanine adducts on the template in three ways: at one base prior to guanine; at positions opposite to guanine; and at one base beyond guanine. Similar patterns of elongation arrest were also obtained with the mammalian DNA polymerases alpha and beta. In contrast to guanine adducts, the adenine adduct, QA, might lack the capacity to arrest DNA chain elongation by DNA polymerases.