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The Journal of General Physiology logoLink to The Journal of General Physiology
. 1967 Jul 1;50(6):1641–1661. doi: 10.1085/jgp.50.6.1641

Cation Transport in Escherichia coli

VII. Potassium requirement for phosphate uptake

Paul L Weiden 1, Wolfgang Epstein 1, Stanley G Schultz 1
PMCID: PMC2225742  PMID: 5340610

Abstract

When Escherichia coli K-12 is grown in media containing limiting amounts of K, growth continues normally until all the extracellular K has been consumed. Thereafter the rates of growth, glucose consumption, and oxygen consumption decrease progressively, and the cell contents of K and P fall. These changes, referred to as K limitation, are all reversed by the addition of K. By specifically altering the ionic composition of the cells it was shown that these metabolic disturbances are not due to changes in the cell content of K or Na, but are directly related to the absence of K from the extracellular medium. The cell pool of inorganic P and the uptake of PO4 from the medium are low in K-limited cells and are immediately stimulated by the addition of K, suggesting that the primary effect of K limitation is to inhibit PO4 uptake. All the metabolic effects of K limitation can be attributed to inhibition of PO4 uptake. The requirement of extracellular K for PO4 uptake may be due to a coupling between the uptake of K and PO4.

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Selected References

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

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