Alterations in normal fatty acid composition in a temperature-sensitive mutant of a thermophilic bacillus

A temperature-sensitive mutant of a thermophilic bacillus was isolated which was unable to maintain membrane integrity at high temperature. The mutant appeared to lose cytoplasmic contents, as indicated by a decrease in turbidity and cell refractivity, when shifted from a permissive (52° C) to a restrictive (65° C) temperature. Cell number remained fairly constant, however. At the approximate onset of the decline in turbidity, viability decreased and net synthesis of ribonucleic acid, deoxyribonucleic acid, and protein ceased. Both chloramphenicol and sucrose were effective in retarding the decline in turbidity at 65° C. An abnormal fatty acid composition at high temperature suggested that the lesion in the mutant involved lipid synthesis. The proportion of fatty acids with a high melting point (> 55° C) increased in the parent from 42% at 42° C to 69% at 65° C. Similar changes were not made by the mutant. An abnormal phospholipid composition was also observed in the mutant at 42° C and 52° C. However, at 58° C, the maximum growth temperature of the mutant, the proportion of major phospholipids (phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, and cardiolipin) was similar to the parent strain. The mutant's apparent loss of membrane stability at high temperature and its inability to regulate fatty acid and phospholipid composition in a normal manner suggested that (i) the temperature-sensitivity of the mutant may be a result of a defect in normal lipid metabolism at high temperature and (ii) the normal changes in fatty acid composition observed at increased growth temperatures may be an essential feature of thermophily.A preliminary report of this work was presented at the 73rd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, Miami Beach, Florida, May 6–11, 1973.     

A heat-sensitive lysis mutant of Bacillus subtilis 168 with a low activity of pyruvate carboxylase.

A mutant of Bacillus subtilis which grew in complex medium at 30 degrees C but lysed at 45 degrees C has been isolated. It could only grow on minimal medium at 45 degrees C with added aspartate (20 microgram ml-1) but lysed if lysine (20 microgram ml-1) was also present. The requirement for aspartate was due to a low activity of pyruvate carboxylase; the site of the mutation (pyc) was linked (16% cotransducible using phage PBSI) to the pyrD locus, and the order of markers deduced was: pyrD-cysC-pyc. This defect appeared to lead to decreased synthesis of mesodiaminopimelic acid (mesoA2pm), an amino acid unique to peptidoglycan and its precursors. At the restrictive temperature the mutant accumulated uridine-5'-diphosphate N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanyl-D-glutamate, since meso A2pm is the next amino acid to be added to the growing peptide chain of peptidoglycan. This resulted in an inhibition of peptidoglycan synthesis, determined as a reduced incorporation of N-acetyl[14C]glucosamine. Peptidoglycan synthesis was not decreased if the mutant was grown in media containing aspartate but lacking lysine. The sensitivity to lysine may arise because (i) at 45 degrees C the mutant was starved for aspartate and hence mesoA2pm even when aspartate was present, since aspartate utilization, as estimated by the incorporation of [3H]aspartate into trichloroacetic acid precipitable material, was relatively inefficient; and (ii) this diminished level of mesoA2pm synthesis from aspartate was further curtailed since lysine inhibits one of the aspartokinases in B. subtilis. Thus, addition of lysine allowed protein synthesis and hence autolysin production to proceed whilst peptidoglycan synthesis remained inhibited. When autolysis was blocked, either indirectly by stopping protein synthesis through starvation of aspartate and lysine, or directly by introducing a lyt mutation, then shifting the mutant to 45 degrees C did not result in lysis but growth still ceased.     

Altered phospholipid metabolism in a temperature-sensitive mutant of a thermophilic bacillus

The phospholipid metabolism of a temperature-sensitive mutant of a thermophilic bacillus was studied after the shift from a permissive (58°C) to a restrictive (65°C) growth temperature. During the short period of growth of the mutant at 65°C, the proportions of cardiolipin and its 3-acyl derivative (lyso-cardiolipin) increased, and the proportions of phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylethanolamine decreased on cell dry weight basis. In ³²P incorporation and turnover experiments, phosphatidylglycerol showed the most rapid uptake and loss of the label. Turnover of cardiolipin, limited to a short period, ceased 18 min after the shift, as did the turnover of phosphatidylethanolamine. In the absence of net phospholipid synthesis, there was a quantitative conversion of phosphatidylglycerol to cardiolipin and an increase in the proportion of lyso-cardiolipin. Chloramphenicol, added to the medium at the time of the shift, reduced the rate of phospholipid synthesis, prevented the increase in the proportions of cardiolipin and lyso-cardiolipin, and slowed the decrease in the proportions of the other two phospholipids. The results indicated a defect in the regulatory mechanism(s) of phospholipid metabolism in the mutant at the restrictive temperature.Nonstandard Abbreviations WT parental strain, thermophilic bacillus - TS-13 temperature-sensitive mutant of a thermophilic bacillus - CL cardiolipin - PG phosphatidylglycerol - PE phosphatidylethanolamine - l-CL lyso-cardiolipin     

Effect of Macromolecular Synthesis on the Coordinate Morphogenesis of Polar Surface Structures in Caulobacter crescentus

The Caulobacter polar surface structures (flagella, pili, and the deoxyribonucleic acid phage phiCbK receptors), which are expressed at proximal sites of swarmer cells in a coordinate manner (Shapiro, Annu. Rev. Microbiol., 30:377-407, 1976) could be blocked by a single mutation. The mutant C. crescentus CB13 ple-801 did not form these surface structures when grown at 35 degrees C. Upon shift down to 25 degrees C, the mutant cells initiated the formation of the surface structures. When mitomycin C was added to the mutant culture upon shift down from 35 to 25 degrees C, phiCbK receptor formation was inhibited to a minimal level. Rifampin and chloramphenicol completely inhibited phiCbK receptor formation when added to the mutant culture upon shift down. Deoxyribonucleic acid as well as ribonucleic acid and protein synthesis seem to be required for the formation of phiCbK receptors. Penicillin V also inhibited phiCbK receptor formation, indicating the involvement of cell wall synthesis. When the mutant CB13 ple-801 cells were shifted down briefly from 35 to 25 degrees C and then shifted up to 35 degrees C, flagella and phiCbK receptors were formed even at 35 degrees C to different extents depending on how long the cells were incubated at 25 degrees C. This formation of the surface structures at 35 degrees C was inhibited by rifampin. From these results, it appears that translation, assembly, or localization processes for the formation of the surface structures are not temperature sensitive at 35 degrees C in the pleiotropic mutant CB13 ple-801. The syntheses of deoxyribonucleic acid and the cell wall do not appear to be temperature sensitive either, since the mutant grows normally at 35 degrees C. It is suggested that there exists a regulatory step that commits the cells to initiate the synthesis of requisite ribonucleic acid for the formation of the polar surface structures.     

murH, a new genetic locus in Escherichia coli involved in cell wall peptidoglycan biosynthesis.

A temperature-sensitive mutant of Escherichia coli defective in peptidoglycan synthesis was characterized. The incorporation of radiolabeled meso-diaminopimelate into peptidoglycan by the mutant was inhibited at the restrictive growth temperature, resulting in autolysis. The defective step appeared to be part of the terminal stage in peptidoglycan synthesis involving the incorporation of disaccharide peptide units into the wall peptidoglycan. The mutation was assigned to a new locus, designated murH, at 99.2 min on the E. coli linkage map.     

A conditional cell division mutant of Chlamydomonas reinhardii having an increased level of colchicine resistance

Conditional cell division mutants were isolated from Chlamydomonas reinhardii. They were unable to form colonies at 34 °C but not at 23 °C. One of the mutants, TS-60, could neither divide at high nor at low (15 °C) temperature, and seemed to continue protein synthesis at restrictive temperatures. TS-60 also exhibited resistance to 6 mM colchicine which inhibited cell division of the wild-type. Observing that TS-60 flagella were highly resistant to colchicine in their regeneration, it is concluded that the mutational alteration has affected not only the mitotic apparatus but also the flagella. Thermolability of TS-60 was not detected in flagellation but in cell division, though colchicine resistance was expressed in both flagellation and cell division. This suggests that the stable formation of the flagellar microtubule mainly depends on the specific organization of its component. Both thermolability and colchicine resistance of TS-60 were inherited in a Mendelian fashion and unseparable from each other. Reversion tests indicated that the two characters were caused by a single mutation. It is inferred that the above-mentioned phenotypes of TS-60 are the consequence of a mutation in factor(s) involving the colchicine binding activity of tubulin and that this mutational change pleiotrophically leads to some impediment in microtubule formation at restrictive temperature.     

Temperature-Sensitive Divisionless Mutant of Bacillus subtilis Defective in the Initiation of Septation

A temperature-sensitive divisionless mutant of Bacillus subtilis 168, tms-12, is shown to be defective in an early step in septum formation at the restrictive temperature. The nature of this defect has been studied by comparing the growth and composition of mutant and wild-type (tms-12(+)) cells at the restrictive (48 C) and permissive (34 C) temperatures. At 48 C, tms-12 cells grow as nonseptate, multinucleate filaments. Filamentation does not appear to be a result of alterations in properties of the cell wall, since the ratio of mucopeptide to teichoic acid, the autolytic activity, and the ability of the walls to protect cells against osmotic shock are comparable in tms-12 filaments and tms-12(+) bacilli grown at 48 C. Synthesis of deoxyribonucleic acid and the segregation of nucleoids also proceed normally during filamentation. The synthesis of membrane, however, is delayed during filamentation of tms-12. No gross alterations were observed in the protein or lipid composition of membranes isolated from mutant filaments. Septum formation resumes when filaments are returned to 34 C and appears to be associated with an increased synthesis of membrane. The occurrence of septa was monitored both by microscopic observation of cross walls and by assays of the number of viable protoplasts released from bacillary filaments upon removal of the cell wall. Septation recovery can be blocked by inhibitors of ribonucleic acid and protein synthesis added during, but not after, the first 7 min of recovery at 34 C. By contrast, inhibition of deoxyribonucleic synthesis does not block recovery.     

Mass selection of conditional mating mutants of Tetrahymena thermophila

The mating reaction in Tetrahymena thermophila includes a starvation period and two distinct cell interactions, co-stimulation and cell pairing, before the cells are cytoplasmically joined as conjugants. A selection procedure for harvesting mutants unable to mate at a restrictive temperature has been developed. A conjugant pair consisting of one cycloheximide-resistant cell and one wild-type cell (cycloheximide-sensitive) was itself sensitive to the drug. By adding cycloheximide and nutrient medium to a cross made at the restrictive and grow. Repetition of the selection procedure enriched for cells unable to conjugate at the restrictive temperature. The selected cells were able to grow at 38 degrees C and could conjugate at 28 degrees C. This procedure may be narrowed to select specifically for cell interaction mutants.     

Conditional mutants of Staphylococcus aureus defective in cell wall precursor synthesis

Temperature-sensitive (ts) mutants of Staphylococcus aureus with defective cell wall biosynthesis have been differentiated from other ts mutants by their ability to grow at the restrictive temperature (43 C) in the presence of 1 m NaCl. Under all conditions they possess normal colonial and cellular morphology at the level of resolution of the light microscope and are, therefore, not protoplasts. However, differences between mutant and wild-type cells can be seen by scanning electron microscopy. Many of the mutants contained concentrations of nucleotide precursors of peptidoglycan synthesis in excess of those present in wild-type cells, at both 30 and 43 C. The types of peptidoglycan precursors accumulated by six of the mutants have been determined, and specific enzymatic defects in three of these have been identified.     

Adenovirus type 12 gene 401 function in transforming infection

The temperature-sensitive DNA-minus mutant, H12ts401, transformed two to eight times more hamster embryo cells than wild-type 12 adenovirus at 38.5 degrees C, but was unable to establish transformation of cultures of hamster embryo brain and rat 3Y1 cells at 41.5 and 40 degrees C, respectively. Another H12ts406 DNA-minus mutant was not defective in cell transformation at these restrictive temperatures. Both mutants, however, induced T-antigen and cell DNA synthesis after infection of 3Y1 cells at 40 degrees C.     

Ultrastructure and cell wall composition in cell division cycle mutants ofSchizosaccharomyces pombe deficient in septum formation

A number of temperature-sensitive cdc^- mutants ofSchizosaccharomyces pombe that are affected in septum formation were analyzed with respect to their ultrastructure and the composition of their cell wall polymers. One mutant strain, cdc 16–116, has a cell wall composition similar to the wild type (strain 972 h^-). However two other mutants, cdc 4 and cdc 7, show a higher galactomannan content and a lower -glucan content. In all the mutants tested, total glucose incorporation, protein, RNA and DNA synthesis increased similarly to wild type over 3 1/2 h. After 2–3 h of incubation at the non permissive temperature-35°C-, cell numbers remained constant although, increases in optical densities at 600 nm were observed. According to scanning electron microscopy, the mutants had aberrant shapes after 5h of incubation at 35°C. Transmission electron microscopy showed that cdc 3 is unable to complete septum formation. cdc 4 showed the most varied morphological shapes and aberrant depositions of cell wall material. cdc 8 exhibited a deranged plasma membrane and cell wall regions near of cell poles; an abnormal septum and several nuclei. cdc 7 showed elongated cells with several nuclei and with an apparently normal cell wall completely lacking in septum and septal material. cdc 16 showed more than one septum per cell.     

Temperature-sensitive mutants of a thermotolerant yeast,Hansenula polymorpha

Temperature-sensitive mutants (TS-1 and TS-7) of a thermotolerant yeast, Hansemula polymorpha CK-1, were isolated. The mutants were unable to grow at 50°C, the maximum growth temperature of the wild type. Mutants TS-1 and TS-7 grown at 20°C showed 33 and 50% viabilities after 6 h of incubation of 50°C, respectively. Mutant TS-1 showed little variation of the degree of fatty acid unsaturation (1.26–1.28/mol) and mutant TS-7 had an almost constant sterol/phospholipid molar ratio (0.31–0.34) at 20, 30 and 40°C, although the wild type had a decrease of the degree of fatty acid unsaturation from 1.56 at 20°C to 1.30 at 40°C and an increase of the sterol/phospholipid molar ratio from 0.26 at 20°C to 0.54 at 40°C.     

Catalase-less peroxisomes. Implication in the milder forms of peroxisome biogenesis disorder

We established a Chinese hamster ovary cell line having a temperature-sensitive phenotype in peroxisome biogenesis. This mutant (65TS) was produced by transforming a PEX2-defective mutant, Z65, with a mutant PEX2 gene, PEX2(E55K), derived from a patient with infantile Refsum disease, a milder form of peroxisome biogenesis disorder. In 65TS, catalase was found in the cytosol at a nonpermissive temperature (39 degrees C), but upon the shift to a permissive temperature (33 degrees C), catalase gradually localized to the structures containing a 70-kDa peroxisomal membrane protein, PMP70. In contrast to catalase, other matrix proteins containing typical peroxisome targeting signals, acyl-CoA oxidase and peroxisomal 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase, were co-localized with PMP70 in most cells, even at 39 degrees C. We found that these structures are partially functional peroxisomes and named them "catalase-less peroxisomes." Catalase-less peroxisomes were also observed in human fibroblasts from patients with milder forms of peroxisome biogenesis disorder, including the one from which the mutant PEX2 gene was derived. We suggest that these structures are the causes of the milder phenotypes of the patients. Temperature-dependent restoration of the peroxisomes in 65TS occurred even in the presence of cycloheximide, a protein synthesis inhibitor. Thus, we conclude that in 65TS, catalase-less peroxisomes are the direct precursors of peroxisomes.     

Roles of the CDC24 gene product in cellular morphogenesis during the Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell cycle

Temperature-sensitive yeast mutants defective in gene CDC24 continued to grow (i.e., increase in cell mass and cell volume) at restrictive temperature (36 degrees C) but were unable to form buds. Staining with the fluorescent dye Calcofluor showed that the mutants were also unable to form normal bud scars (the discrete chitin rings formed in the cell wall at budding sites) at 36 degrees C; instead, large amounts of chitin were deposited randomly over the surfaces of the growing unbudded cells. Labeling of cell-wall mannan with fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated concanavalin A suggested that mannan incorporation was also delocalized in mutant cells grown at 36 degrees C. Although the mutants have well-defined execution points just before bud emergence, inactivation of the CDC24 gene product in budded cells led both to selective growth of mother cells rather than of buds and to delocalized chitin deposition, indicating that the CDC24 gene product functions in the normal localization of growth in budded as well as in unbudded cells. Growth of the mutant strains at temperatures less than 36 degrees C revealed allele-specific differences in behavior. Two strains produced buds of abnormal shape during growth at 33 degrees C. Moreover, these same strains displayed abnormal localization of budding sites when growth at 24 degrees C (the normal permissive temperature for the mutants); in each case, the abnormal pattern of budding sites segregated with the temperature sensitivity in crosses. Thus, the CDC24 gene product seems to be involved in selection of the budding site, formation of the chitin ring at that site, the subsequent localization of new cell wall growth to the budding site and the growing bud, and the balance between tip growth and uniform growth of the bud that leads to the normal cell shape.     

Glucose metabolism in Neurospora is altered by heat shock and by disruption of HSP30

We compared the metabolism of [1-13C]glucose by wild type cells of Neurospora crassa at normal growth temperature and at heat shock temperatures, using nuclear magnetic resonance analysis of cell extracts. High temperature led to increased incorporation of 13C into trehalose, relative to all other metabolites, and there was undetectable synthesis of glycerol, which was a prominent metabolite of glucose at normal temperature (30 degrees C). Heat shock strongly reduced formation of tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates, approximately 10-fold, and mannitol synthesis was severely depressed at 46 degrees C, but only moderately reduced at 45 degrees C. A mutant strain of N. crassa that lacks the small alpha-crystallin-related heat shock protein, Hsp30, shows poor survival during heat shock on a nutrient medium with restricted glucose. An analysis of glucose metabolism of this strain showed that, unlike the wild type strain, Hsp30-deficient cells may accumulate unphosphorylated glucose at high temperature. This suggestion that glucose-phosphorylating hexokinase activity might be depressed in mutant cells led us to compare hexokinase activity in the two strains at high temperature. Hexokinase was reduced more than 35% in the mutant cell extracts, relative to wild type extracts. alpha-Crystallin and an Hsp30-enriched preparation protected purified hexokinase from thermal inactivation in vitro, supporting the proposal that Hsp30 may directly stabilize hexokinase in vivo during heat shock.     

Studies on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA-replication in a temperature-sensitive mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Summary In a yeast mutant (198 D1) exhibiting temperature sensitive DNA replication, incubation at the restrictive temperature influences both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA synthesis but to different degrees, the mitochondrial DNA being less affected. DNA polymerase activities measurable in mitochondria free cell extracts as well as in the extract from isolated mitochondria are found to be unaffected at the restrictive temperature. The level of DNA polymerase in the cell extract is elevated in comparison to the wild type strain. Furthermore, the tight coupling of DNA replication to protein synthesis usually observed in yeast is partly lost in the mutant.This work is dedicated to Professor O. Hoffmann-Ostenhof on the occasion of his 60th birthday.     

Protein synthesis in yeast. Identification of an altered elongation factor in thermolabile mutants of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Cell-free extracts from the wild type yeast strain (A364A) and from a group of noncomplementing mutants that are conditionally defective in translation were preincubated at a restrictive temperature prior to incubation at a permissive temperature for protein synthesis. Results of these experiments showed that upon exposure to the restrictive temperature (39 degrees C), all five of the noncomplementing mutants lost ability to incorporate amino acid into protein. The wild type parent strain retained better than 80% of the activity under identical conditions of heat treatment. Mutant extracts could be revived to incorporate amino acid by the addition of the purified yeast elongation factor 3. Factors 1 and 2 had no effect. The heat-treated extract from one mutant did not supplement the activity of the other mutant. Although all five of the mutants were inactivated by preincubation at 39 degrees C, each showed a variable rate and extent of thermolability. Heat-treated mutant extracts were fully active in polyphenylalanine synthesis with liver ribosomes but not with the yeast ribosomes. Since liver ribosomes do not require factor 3, this assay then confirms that factor 3 is the thermolabile component in this group of noncomplementing mutants.     

A temperature sensitive mutant of Escherichia coli which does not allow replication of RNA phage at a high temperature.

A conditional mutant, referred to as RepR43, was isolated from Escherichia coli W2252 by N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitroso-guanidine mutagenesis. Although RepR43 does not permit growth of RNA phage beta at the restrictive temperature, 43 degrees C, cell growth and synthesis of macromolecules such as RNA and protein continue at a somewhat reduced rate. Several lines of evidence indicate that a RepR43 function is indispensable for normal phage RNA replication. In addition, this function appears to be involved in the maintenance of the perpetuated phage genome. The addition of 10% sucrose to the medium at the restrictive temperature resulted in the production of the phage, suggesting that the mutant cell might have an altered membrane organization which interferes with normal viral replication.     

cps1+, a Schizosaccharomyces pombe gene homolog of Saccharomyces cerevisiae FKS genes whose mutation confers hypersensitivity to cyclosporin A and papulacandin B.

The Schizosaccharomyces pombe cps1-12 (for chlorpropham supersensitive) mutant strain was originally isolated as hypersensitive to the spindle poison isopropyl N-3-chlorophenyl carbamate (chlorpropham) (J. Ishiguro and Y. Uhara, Jpn. J. Genet. 67:97-109, 1992). We have found that the cps1-12 mutation also confers (i) hypersensitivity to the immunosuppressant cyclosporin A (CsA), (ii) hypersensitivity to the drug papulacandin B, which specifically inhibits 1,3-beta-D-glucan synthesis both in vivo and in vitro, and (iii) thermosensitive growth at 37 degrees C. Under any of these restrictive treatments, cells swell up and finally lyse. With an osmotic stabilizer, cells do not lyse, but at 37 degrees C they become multiseptated and multibranched. The cps1-12 mutant, grown at a restrictive temperature, showed an increase in sensitivity to lysis by enzymatic cell wall degradation, in in vitro 1,3-beta-D-glucan synthase activity (173% in the absence of GTP in the reaction), and in cell wall biosynthesis (130% of the wild-type amount). Addition of Ca2+ suppresses hypersensitivity to papulacandin B and septation and branching phenotypes. All of these data suggest a relationship between the cps1+ gene and cell wall synthesis. A DNA fragment containing the cps1+ gene was cloned, and sequence analysis indicated that it encodes a predicted membrane protein of 1,729 amino acids with 15 to 16 transmembrane domains. S. pombe cps1p has overall 55% sequence identity with Fks1p or Fks2p, proposed to be catalytic or associated subunits of Saccharomyces cerevisiae 1,3-beta-D-glucan synthase. Thus, the cps1+ product might be a catalytic or an associated copurifying subunit of the fission yeast 1,3-beta-D-glucan synthase that plays an essential role in cell wall synthesis.     

Hexose and amino acid transport by chicken embryo fibroblasts infected with temperature-sensitive mutant of Rous sarcoma virus. Comparison of transport properties of whole cells and membrane vesicles

The effect of transformation on hexose and amino acid transport has been studied using whole cells and membrane vesicles of chicken embryo fibroblasts infected with the temperature-sensitive mutant of the Rous sarcoma virus, TS-68. In whole cells, TS-68-infected chicken embryo fibroblasts cultured at the permissive temperature (37 degrees C) had a 2-fold higher rate of 2-deoxy-D-glucose uptake than the same cells cultured at the non-permissive temperature (41 degrees C). However, both the non-transformed and transformed cells had comparable rates of alpha-aminoisobutyric acid transport. Membrane vesicles, isolated from TS-68-infected chicken embryo fibroblasts cultured at 41 degrees C or 37 degrees C, displayed carrier-mediated, intravesicular uptake of D-glucose and alpha-aminoisobutyric acid. Membrane vesicles from TS-68-infected chicken embryo fibroblasts cultured at 37 degrees C had an approx. 50% greater initial rate of stereospecific hexose uptake than the membrane vesicles from fibroblasts cultured at 41 degrees C. The two types of membrane vesicle had similar uptake rates of alpha-aminoisobutyric acid. The results of hexose and amino acid uptake by the membrane vesicles correlated well with those observed with the whole cells. Km values for stereospecific D-glucose uptake by the membrane vesicles from TS-68-infected chicken embryo fibroblasts cultured at 41 and 37 degrees C were similar, but the V value was greater for the membrane vesicles from TS-68-infected cells cultured at 37 degrees C. Cytochalasin B competitively inhibited stereospecific hexose uptake in both types of membrane vesicle. These findings suggest that the membrane vesicles retained many of the features of hexose and amino acid transport observed in whole cells, and that the increased rate of hexose transport seen in the virally-transformed chicken embryo fibroblasts was due to an increase in the number or availability of hexose carriers.