Growth and Metabolic Activities of Heat Treated Staphylococcus aureus

Staphylococcus aureus cells which had been heated at 50 or 60° were transferred to various growth media and intracellular ribonucleic acid (RNA), deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and amino acids were measured during the lag phase of growth. The duration of the lag phase depended on the temperature to which the cultures had been subjected, and was longest following storage at 60°. RNA synthesis occurred almost immediately on placing treated cells in a growth medium, but at a slower rate than with unheated cells. Variation in the composition of the metabolic pool of heated cells occurred during the early lag phase and may be as a result of damage to the cytoplasmic membrane with resulting loss of permeability control.     

Inhibition of Sindbis Virus Production by Media of Low Ionic Strength: Intracellular Events and Requirements for Reversal

Incubation of Sindbis virus-infected cultures in medium with an ionic strength of 0.105 reduced the virus yield more than 99%. This inhibition was rapidly reversed by exposing the cultures to normal medium: within 20 min the previously inhibited cultures had released as much infectious virus as normal controls had produced during hours of incubation. The following intracellular processes were essentially normal in inhibited, infected monolayers: protein and phospholipid synthesis, the synthesis of infectious viral ribonucleic acid and its incorporation into nucleocapsids, and viral modification of the cell membrane. Accelerated virus production was detected within 20 sec after exposure of inhibited cultures to normal medium. It required an ionic strength greater than 0.145, a pH above 6.7, and a temperature above 21 C. It was not dependent on osmotic pressure, de novo protein synthesis, or a functional energy metabolism. Virus release also occurred in sonic-treated materials of inhibited cells under the same conditions as in living cells. Potential applications of the inhibition to concentration of virus stocks or to obtaining virus in nonphysiological solutions are noted. Preliminary studies with Semiliki Forest virus, Newcastle disease virus, and vesicular stomatitis virus suggest that this phenomenon may be limited to arboviruses.     

Characterization of a Temperature-sensitive Mutant of Bacillus subtilis Defective in Deoxyribonucleic Acid Replication

In this paper we present a preliminary characterization of a temperature-sensitive mutant of Bacillus subtilis which appears to be defective in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) replication at high temperature. When log-phase cells of the mutant were transferred from 30 to 45 C, protein synthesis and ribonucleic acid synthesis continued more or less normally for several hours, whereas DNA synthesis continued at a normal rate for only 20 to 30 min and then was drastically reduced. The amount of DNA synthesized prior to this reduction corresponded approximately to the amount of DNA synthesized under conditions of protein synthesis inhibition by the parent or mutant strain. After 1 hr of growth at high temperature, cells of the mutant showed a pronounced drop in viable count. After 30 or 60 min of growth at high temperature, DNA synthesis could be restored by lowering the temperature. A longer period of growth at 45 C led to a loss of reversibility of DNA synthesis. Spores of the mutant synthesized no DNA when germinated at high temperature, although an outgrowing cell appeared. When spores were germinated at low temperature until DNA synthesis began, and then were transferred to high temperature, macromolecular synthesis continued as the log-phase transfer experiments described above.     

Effect of Elevated Temperature on Extended Enzyme Synthesis Induced by Bacteriophage T4 Amber Mutants Unable to Synthesize Deoxyribonucleic Acid

The extended synthesis of early enzymes by the deoxyribonucleic acid-negative amber mutants of bacteriophage T4 after infection of the nonpermissive host Escherichia coli B was prevented by incubating the infected cells at 44 C. This effect did not occur if the incubation temperature was 43 C or less or if the cells were grown and infected in broth rather than minimal medium (C medium). Once early enzyme synthesis had ceased at 44 C, lowering the incubation temperature to 37 C did not occasion resumption of synthesis. Experiments with chloramphenicol at 44 C indicated that increased degradation of early enzymes is an unlikely explanation for the effect. Examination of pulse-labeled ribonucleic acid and polysomes made at 37 and 44 C in infected cells revealed some differences, but at present there is no obvious way in which these differences may be related to the effect on enzyme formation. There was no discernible difference between the ribosomal ribonucleic acid and ribosomes at the two temperatures, nor was there a difference in the cell-free amino acid-incorporating systems isolated from cells infected at the two temperatures as judged by polyuridylic stimulation of phenylalanine incorporation. Incubation of cells infected with T4amN82 at 44 C with protein synthesis blocked by 5-methyltryptophan for 15 min did not prevent the typical pattern of enzyme synthesis at 44 C when the block was reversed by excess l-tryptophan. The relation of this and other observations relative to the effect at 44 C on the synthesis of early enzymes is discussed.     

Thermally induced leakage from Vibrio marinus, an obligately psychrophilic marine bacterium

Haight, Rodger D. (Oregon State University, Corvallis), and Richard Y. Morita. Thermally induced leakage from Vibrio marinus, an obligately psychrophilic bacterium. J. Bacteriol. 92:1388-1393. 1966.-Leakage of various cellular components into the surrounding menstruum occurred when Vibrio marinus was subjected to temperatures above 20 C (organism's maximal growth temperature). These materials, listed in decreasing rates of leakage, were identified as protein, deoxyribonucleic acid, ribonucleic acid, and amino acids. The amount of polar amino acids increased as the time and temperature of heat treatment were increased, whereas the nonpolar amino acids decreased. The ribonucleic acid in the supernatant fluid resulting from heat treatment was both polymeric and nonpolymeric. Leakage of cellular components may be one of the reasons that V. marinus MP-1 loses viability when exposed to temperatures above its maximal temperature for growth.     

Macromolecular Synthesis and Thymineless Death in Mycoplasma laidlawii B

The relationships between macromolecular synthesis and viability have been studied in the pleuropneumonia-like organism Mycoplasma laidlawii B adapted to a semidefined grwoth medium. This organism exhibited an absolute growth requirement for the nucleosides uridine and thymidine, a partial requirement for guanosine and deoxyguanosine, but no requirement for adenosine, deoxyadenosine, cytosine, and deoxycytosine. Cytosine and deoxycytosine partially satisfied the requirement for uridine. Loss in viability resulted from thymidine deprivation, but not from a deficiency in other growth requirements. This phenomenon of thymineless death in a mycoplasma is similar in many respects to that reported in other bacterial systems. Chloramphenicol specifically inhibited protein synthesis and allowed deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis to proceed to only about 40% of that normally produced per generation period, while causing less inhibition of ribonucleic acid synthesis. Protein synthesis inhibition permitted thymineless death to a survival level of less than 0.5%, but ribonucleic acid synthesis inhibition resulted in a higher (10%) survival level. These results are consistent with previously noted aspects of thymineless death in Escherichia coli strains, which suggest that thymineless death is coupled to ribonucleic acid synthesis.     

Characterization of Mild Thermal Stress in Pseudomonas fluorescens and Its Repair

The exposure of exponentially growing Pseudomonas fluorescens P7 cells to heating at 36 C for 2 h in a defined medium, followed by cooling to 25 C and further incubation at this, the optimal growth temperature, resulted in the apparent death of approximately 99% of the cells, as determined by their inability to form colonies on Trypticase soy agar. Continued incubation at 25 C resulted in an extremely rapid increase in the Trypticase soy agar count, demonstrating that the phenomenon observed was not death but rather injury. Presumptive evidence of heat-stimulated ribonucleic acid (RNA) degradation and membrane damage was provided by the observed loss of 260-nm absorbing materials. Confirmation of RNA degradation was obtained by colorimetric analysis. Ribosomal RNA from normal and injured cells, which was electrophoretically separated on polyacrylamide gels, revealed that the 23S and 16S species were only partially destroyed. Inhibitor studies demonstrated, however, that RNA synthesis was necessary for recovery. The unusual accumulation of 17S RNA during recovery pointed to the presence of a heat-induced lesion in the RNA maturation process. A thermally induced membrane lesion is also discussed.     

Regulation of Manganese Accumulation and Exchange in Bacillus subtilis W23

An overnight culture of Bacillus subtilis W23 in low-manganese tryptone broth is unable to sporulate and becomes hyperactive with regard to the manganese active transport system during stationary phase. When manganese is added to cells in spent or fresh medium, the cells immediately accumulate a high proportion of the manganese available in the medium. When the hyperactive cells are diluted into broth containing 10 muM Mn(2+), high intracellular manganese levels are reached, and inhibition of ribonucleic acid and protein synthesis occurs. This inhibition is relieved when the intracellular manganese concentration declines to the nontoxic levels characteristic of cells growing in 10 muM Mn(2+). The release of the accumulated manganese is achieved by a reduction in the uptake rate for manganese while the efflux rate remains essentially constant. Inhibitors of ribonucleic acid and protein synthesis prevent the reduction of the high rate of manganese uptake and, therefore, high net concentrations of manganese are maintained in the presence of these inhibitors. The hyperactive manganese uptake system is temperature dependent and inhibited by cyanide and m-chlorophenyl carbonylcyanide hydrazone.     

Changes in fatty acids,amino acids and carbon/nitrogen biomass during nitrogen starvation of ammonium- and nitrate-grownIsochrysis galbana

Growth of cells ofIsochrysis galbana with either nitrate or ammonium as the N-source, and the effects of subsequent N-starvation of these cells, were compared. During exponential N-sufficient growth nitrate-grown cells had double the fatty acid content of the ammonium-grown cells but lower concentrations of a few amino acids. Following resuspension in N-free medium the fatty acid content of the ammonium-grown cells increased to that of the nitrate-grown cells, but there was no further increase in fatty acid content on a C-biomass or cellular basis during the following 4 days for either culture. Fatty acid synthesis was continuous during N-starvation, while it occurred during the light-phase only in exponential growth. The proportion of 18:1n9 fatty acid increased from 10 to 25% total fatty acids during N-starvation. Intracellular free amino acid content decreased in a similar manner in both cultures on N-starvation, the ratio of intracellular free amino-N/cell-C falling more rapidly than overall cellular N/C. It was concluded that optimal amino acid and fatty acid content would be attained by growth in the presence of excess nitrate. Measurements of chlorophyll and carotenoid content and ofin vivo fluorescence indicated that these parameters had potential for monitoring the C and N biomass in cultures grown under relatively constant (not necessarily continuous) illumination.     

Growth of Streptococcus mutans protoplasts is not inhibited by penicillin.

A method is described in which cells of Streptococcus mutans BHT can be converted to spherical, osmotically fragile protoplasts. Exponential-phase cells were suspended in a solution containing 0.5 M melezitose, and their cell walls were hydrolyzed with mutanolysin (M-1 enzyme). When the resultant protoplasts were incubated in a chemically defined growth medium containing 0.5 M NH4Cl, the protoplast suspensions increased in turbidity, protein, ribonucleic acid, and deoxyribonucleic acid in a balanced fashion. In the presence of benzylpenicillin (5 microgram/ml), balanced growth of protoplasts was indistinguishable from untreated controls. This absence of inhibition of protoplast growth in the presence of benzylpenicillin was apparently not due to inactivation of the antibiotic. When exponential-phase cells of S. mutans BHT were first exposed to 5 microgram of benzyl-penicillin per ml for 1 h and then converted to protoplasts, these protoplasts were also able to grow in chemically defined, osmotically stabilized medium. The ability of wall-free protoplasts to grow and to synthesize ribonucleic acid and protein in the presence of a relatively high concentration of benzylpenicillin contrasts with the previously reported rapid inhibition of ribonucleic acid and protein synthesis in intact streptococci. These data suggest that this secondary inhibition of ribonucleic acid and protein synthesis in whole cells is due to factors involved with the continued assembly of an intact, insoluble cell wall rather than with earlier stages of peptidoglycan synthesis.     

Regulation of Ribonucleic Acid Synthesis by Histidine and Methionine During Recovery of Escherichia coli from Magnesium Starvation

During magnesium starvation of Escherichia coli B, most of the ribosomes break down to low-molecular-weight components. When magnesium is restored to the medium, the cells recover. The rate of recovery can be increased greatly by supplementing the growth medium with a mixture of 21 amino acids. This increased rate of recovery is shown to be due to the effect of only two amino acids, histidine and methionine, which initially stimulate accumulation of cellular ribonucleic acid without increasing the rate of protein synthesis. In contrast, histidine and methionine supplementation to logarithmically growing E. coli B is not as effective in stimulating growth as is the complete amino acid mixture. Since cells recovering from magnesium starvation preferentially synthesize ribosomes, it is possible that histidine and methionine play a special role(s) in ribosomal ribonucleic acid synthesis or stability.     

Changes in Free Amino Acid Production and Intracellular Amino Acid Pools of Bacillus licheniformis as a Function of Culture Age and Growth Media

Changes in the endogenous intracellular amino acid pool and total free amino acid production in Bacillus licheniformis grown in minimal media were investigated. The total intracellular pool increased during exponential growth and then decreased rapidly after the end of growth. Most of the amino acids were present at low concentrations, but glutamate and alanine comprised 60 to 90% of the total intracellular free amino acid at most times during the growth cycle. It was concluded that, in addition to providing monomers for protein synthesis, the intracellular amino acid pool may be maintained for the storage of energy-providing metabolic intermediates and possibly as a balance to the ionic strength of the medium. The total free amino acid production by the cell was found to be dependent upon the composition of the salts medium as well as the culture age under conditions in which the carbon and nitrogen sources were the same. A 10-fold increase in extracellular amino acid was observed as the cells changed from vegetative to sporulation metabolism, mostly due to the extrusion of intracellular amino acid. The impact of this increase upon amino acid uptake and pulse-labeling studies using unwashed cells is discussed.     

Polyamines and the Accumulation of Ribonucleic Acid in Some Polyauxotrophic Strains of Escherichia coli

The cellular accumulations of polyamines and ribonucleic acid (RNA) were compared in the polyauxotrophic mutants of Escherichia coli strain 15 TAU and E. coli K-12 RC(re1) met(-) leu(-). Putrescine, spermidine, and their monoacetyl derivatives were the main polyamines in both strains, when grown in glucose-mineral medium. No significant degradation of either (14)C-putrescine or (14)C-spermidine was found in growing cultures of strain 15 TAU, which requires thymine, arginine, and uracil for growth. Experiments with this organism showed that in a variety of different incubation conditions, which included normal growth, amino acid starvation, inhibition by chloramphenicol or streptomycin, or thymine deprivation, a close correlation was seen between the intracellular accumulation of unconjugated spermidine and RNA. In the presence of arginine, the antibiotics stimulated the production of putrescine and spermidine per unit of bacterial mass. Deprivation of arginine also resulted in an increase in the production of putrescine per unit of bacterial mass, most of which was excreted into the growth medium. However, in this system the antibiotics reduced the synthesis of putrescine. Furthermore, streptomycin caused a rapid loss of cellular putrescine into the medium. The latter effect was not seen in anaerobic conditions or in a streptomycin-resistant mutant of 15 TAU. Methionine added to the growth medium of growing TAU not only markedly increased the total production of spermidine, but also increased both the intracellular concentration of spermidine and the accumulation of RNA. Exogenous spermidine extensively relaxed RNA synthesis in amino acid-starved cultures of 15 TAU. Analysis in sucrose density gradients showed that the RNA accumulated in the presence of spermidine was ribosomal RNA.Cells of E. coli K-12 RC(rel) met(-) leu(-), grown in a complete medium, had approximately the same ratio of free spermidine to RNA as did strain 15 TAU. However, the relaxed strain showed a much lower ratio of putrescine to spermidine than the stringent 15 TAU. Omission of methionine stopped spermidine synthesis and markedly increased both the intracellular accumulation and the total production of putrescine. It seems that a high intracellular level of spermidine acts as a feedback inhibitor in the biosynthesis of putrescine in this strain. The hypothesis that the intracellular concentration of polyamines may participate in the control of the synthesis of ribosomal RNA in bacteria is discussed.     

Protein Synthesis in Relation to Sporulation and Meiosis in Yeast

The dependence upon protein synthesis of physiological and biochemical events occurring during yeast sporulation was investigated. Protein synthesis was inhibited by cycloheximide. There was an early, irreversible sensitivity to inhibition with respect to cell viability and ascus formation; inhibition was reversible only if the cells were inhibited after, but not prior to, 2 to 3 h in sporulation medium. Interruption of protein synthesis of any time during sporulation inhibited all measurable metabolic and sporulation-specific processes except protein breakdown and, to some extent, ribonucleic acid synthesis. The time interval between the occurrence of an event and the protein synthesis necessary for that event was determined to be 2 to 3 h for ascus formation, 相似文献   

Characterization of a rifampin-resistant, conditional asporogenous mutant of Bacillus subtilis.

A rifampin-resistant, conditionally asporgoenous mutant of Bacillus subtilis was isolated that sporulates poorly in Sterlini-Mandelstam sporulation medium, but that sporulates normally in modified Difco sporulation medium. Rifampin-resistant (Rif-r) and conditional asporogenous (Spo-c) phenotypes co-transformed at 100% frequency. Preliminary genetic studies indicated the Rif-r trait to lie between cysA14 and ery, a locus (rnp) common to Rif-r mutants. Ribonucleic acid polymerase from strains bearing this mutation was found to be rifampin resistant in vitro. The loss of ability to sporulate in Sterlini-Mandelstam medium was found to be corrected, to a large extent, by addition to the medium of arginine, methionine, valine, and isoleucine. Several other amino acids had small effects, whereas others had no effect at all. The restorative effect is approximately additive. Growth studies indicated that Rif-r strains grew more rapidly than the corresponding parent in minimal medium at temperatures higher than 37 C. Addition of certain amino acids to the medium resulted in identical growth rates at these temperatures. Extracellular protease and esterase activities of the Rif-r Spo-c mutant were normal. A slight difference was found in the heat sensitivity of partially purified ribonucleic acid polymerase preparations of this mutant compared to the wild type.     

Membrane phospholipid synthesis and phenotypic correlation of an Escherichia coli pss mutant.

A pair of putatively isogenic pss(Ts) and pss+ (phosphatidylserine synthetase structural gene) strains was constructed and analyzed, together with the revertants, for the physiological consequences of cessation of the optimal synthesis of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE). Their in vivo and in vitro abilities to synthetize PE and the growth rates at different temperatures were determined. The rate of PE synthesis by OS2101 pss(Ts) was inversely related to the culture temperature. OS2101 in a low-salt broth medium stopped division and formed filamentous cells with declining viability upon the elevation of culture temperature from 27 to 42 or 44 degrees C, whereas the syntheses of deoxyribonucleic acid, ribonucleic acid, and protein were not affected. Proper concentrations of cations such as Na+, K+, NH4+, and Mg2+ or of sucrose could remedy the division and growth of OS2101 at the restrictive temperature without restoring normal PE synthesis. A remedial effect other than osmotic protection of these effectors and an adaptive regulatory mechanism for PE formation are suggested.     

Inhibition of growth of cells in culture by L-phenylalanine as a model system for the analysis of phenylketonuria. I. Amino acid antagonism and the inhibition of protein synthesis

Phenylalanine in high concentrations inhibits the growth of mouse A9 cells. Protein synthesis is inhibited earlier and more severely than RNA or DNA synthesis. Phenylalanine inhibits the uptake and decreases the intracellular pool of several amino acids. Certain amino acids added in excess reverse the phenylalanine inhibition. The strongest reversing amino acids appear to function by excluding phenylalanine. The phenylalanine inhibition does not appear to be due to a deficiency of any amino acid, but to the high intracellular phenylalanine concentration and/or an amino acid imbalance resulting from the large ratio of phenylalanine to other amino acids.     

Proceedings: Repair of injury in Salmonella anatum cells after freezing and thawing in milk

Fast freezing and slow thawing of Salmonella anatum cells in nonfat milk solids resulted in about 20% death and 50% injury of the cells surviving the treatment. Death was defined as the inability to form colonies on a nonselective plating medium [xylose-lysine-peptone agar (XLP)] after freezing and thawing. Injury was defined as the inability to form colonies on a selective plating medium (XLP with 0.2% sodium desoxycholate added). The injured cells repaired rapidly and within 2 hr at 25 °C, in the presence of 0.1% milk solids; all the injured cells regained the ability to form colonies on the selective medium. The treated cells showed a 1-hr extended lag phase of growth as compared to the unfrozen cells. Milk solids concentration in the freezing and repair menstrua influenced injury, repair of injury, and death. The repair process was affected by the pH and temperature of environment in which the injured cells were incubated. Maximum repair occurred at pH values between 6.0 and 7.4 and temperatures from 25 to 42 °C. The data suggested repair did not require the synthesis of protein, ribonucleic acid, or cell-wall mucopeptide but did require energy synthesis.     

Growth and Macromolecular Composition of a Mutant of Escherichia coli During Polyamine Limitation

A mutant of Escherichia coli with reduced levels of biosynthetic arginine decarboxylase was isolated which required putrescine or spermidine for optimal growth. The stimulation of growth by putrescine was 1.5- to 3-fold depending upon the culture medium. Specificity studies supported the concept that the requirement was for spermidine or closely related polyamines, or for diamines which could be converted enzymatically to these compounds. The behavior of the macromolecular composition of the polyamine-starved cells appeared abnormal. The ribonucleic acid to protein and deoxyribonucleic acid to cell ratios in the starved cells were both higher than expected on the basis of their growth rate. The stable ribonucleic acid in the polyamine-limited cells appeared to be normal as judged from size distribution and degree of methylation. The relationship of these results to mechanisms for regulation of nucleic acid and protein synthesis in E. coli is discussed.     

Inhibition of Ribonucleic Acid Synthesis by Nalidixic Acid in Escherichia coli

The effect of low concentrations of nalidixic acid on ribonucleic acid (RNA) synthesis in Escherichia coli was examined. It was observed that RNA synthesis in exponentially growing cells was not significantly affected, in harmony with previous studies. However, RNA synthesis was markedly depressed by nalidixic acid during starvation for an amino acid or during chloramphenicol treatment. This effect was not caused by increased killing or inhibition of nucleoside triphosphate synthesis by nalidixic acid. The pattern of radioactive uracil incorporation into transfer RNA or ribosomes was not changed by the drug. The sensitivity of RNA synthesis to nalidixic acid in the absence of protein production may be useful in probing the amino acid control of RNA synthesis.