We have examined DNA strand breakage, DNA degradation, and the rate of DNA synthesis in lig and lig-recB strains of Escherichia coli K12 incubated in the presence and absence of 3 mug/ml chloramphenicol. Substantial DNA strand breakage and DNA degradation is observed in the lig strain upon growth at 40 degrees C; however, such strand breakage and DNA degradation is not observed in th lig-recB strainl Incubation of the lig strain at 40 degrees C in the presence of 3 mug/ml chloramphenicol reduces the amount of DNA strand breakage and DNA degradation to the level observed in the lig-recB strain. Together, these results demonstrate that exonuclease V (the recBC gene product) is responsible for the increased DNA degradation associated with DNA ligase deficiency.