Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Bacteriology logoLink to Journal of Bacteriology
. 1988 Jan;170(1):431–435. doi: 10.1128/jb.170.1.431-435.1988

Variation in precursor pool size during the division cycle of Escherichia coli: further evidence for linear cell growth.

H E Kubitschek 1, S R Pai 1
PMCID: PMC210660  PMID: 2447064

Abstract

The magnitudes of several pools of radioactively labeled precursors for RNA and protein synthesis were determined as a function of cell age during the division cycle of Escherichia coli 15 THU. Uracil, histidine, and methionine pools increased from low initial values for cells at birth to maxima during midcycle and then subsided again. These pools were small or nonexistent at the beginning and the end of the cycle, and their average values during the cycle were less than 4% of the total cellular radioactivity. The results are consistent with a linear pattern of growth for cells during the division cycle and provide strong evidence against exponential or bilinear growth of E. coli cells.

Full text

PDF
431

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Boyd A., Holland I. B. Regulation of the synthesis of surface protein in the cell cycle of E. coli B/r. Cell. 1979 Oct;18(2):287–296. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(79)90048-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Churchward G. G., Holland I. B. Envelope synthesis during the cell cycle in Escherichia coli B/r. J Mol Biol. 1976 Aug 5;105(2):245–261. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(76)90110-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Cooper S. A unifying model for the G1 period in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Nature. 1979 Jul 5;280(5717):17–19. doi: 10.1038/280017a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cooper S. Leucine uptake and protein synthesis are exponential during the division cycle of Escherichia coli B/r. J Bacteriol. 1988 Jan;170(1):436–438. doi: 10.1128/jb.170.1.436-438.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Dietzel I., Kolb V., Boos W. Pole cap formation in Escherichia coli following induction of the maltose-binding protein. Arch Microbiol. 1978 Aug 1;118(2):207–218. doi: 10.1007/BF00415731. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Ecker R. E., Kokaisl G. Synthesis of protein, ribonucleic acid, and ribosomes by individual bacterial cells in balanced growth. J Bacteriol. 1969 Jun;98(3):1219–1226. doi: 10.1128/jb.98.3.1219-1226.1969. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Kubitschek H. E., Bendigkeit H. E., Loken M. R. Onset of DNA synthesis during the cell cycle in chemostat cultures. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1967 Jun;57(6):1611–1617. doi: 10.1073/pnas.57.6.1611. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kubitschek H. E. Constancy of the ratio of DNA to cell volume in steady-state cultures of Escherichia coli B-r. Biophys J. 1974 Feb;14(2):119–123. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(74)70003-0. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kubitschek H. E. Constancy of uptake during the cell cycle in Escherichia coli. Biophys J. 1968 Dec;8(12):1401–1412. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(68)86562-2. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Kubitschek H. E. Evidence for the generality of linear cell growth. J Theor Biol. 1970 Jul;28(1):15–29. doi: 10.1016/0022-5193(70)90061-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Kubitschek H. E. Increase in cell mass during the division cycle of Escherichia coli B/rA. J Bacteriol. 1986 Nov;168(2):613–618. doi: 10.1128/jb.168.2.613-618.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. MITCHISON J. M. The growth of single cells. I. Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Exp Cell Res. 1957 Oct;13(2):244–262. doi: 10.1016/0014-4827(57)90005-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Manson M. D., Boos W., Bassford P. J., Jr, Rasmussen B. A. Dependence of maltose transport and chemotaxis on the amount of maltose-binding protein. J Biol Chem. 1985 Aug 15;260(17):9727–9733. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Ryter A., Shuman H., Schwartz M. Intergration of the receptor for bacteriophage lambda in the outer membrane of Escherichia coli: coupling with cell division. J Bacteriol. 1975 Apr;122(1):295–301. doi: 10.1128/jb.122.1.295-301.1975. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. SCHAECHTER M., MAALOE O., KJELDGAARD N. O. Dependency on medium and temperature of cell size and chemical composition during balanced grown of Salmonella typhimurium. J Gen Microbiol. 1958 Dec;19(3):592–606. doi: 10.1099/00221287-19-3-592. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Shen B. H., Boos W. Regulation of the -methylgalactoside transport system and the galatose-binding protein by the cell cycle of Escherichia coli. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1973 May;70(5):1481–1485. doi: 10.1073/pnas.70.5.1481. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Ubitschek H. E. Linear cell growth in Escherichia coli. Biophys J. 1968 Jul;8(7):792–804. doi: 10.1016/s0006-3495(68)86521-x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Bacteriology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES