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. 1974 Jun;118(3):1067–1074. doi: 10.1128/jb.118.3.1067-1074.1974

Percent Charging of Transfer Ribonucleic Acid and Levels of ppGpp and pppGpp in Dormant and Germinated Spores of Bacillus megaterium

Peter Setlow 1
PMCID: PMC246857  PMID: 4208410

Abstract

The levels of transfer ribonucleic acids (tRNAs) specific for 14 amino acids were almost identical in dormant spores and in spores germinated from 6 to 75 min. Germinated spore tRNAs specific for all amino acids tested were between 63 and 93% charged, and there was no significant change in this value from 6 to 75 min of germination. In contrast, tRNAs isolated from dormant spores specific for nine different amino acids were almost completely(>93%) uncharged. However, some dormant spore tRNAs, i.e., those for arginine, histidine, isoleucine, and valine, showed significant (21 to 72%) levels of aminoacylation. Dormant spores contained no detectable guanosine penta- (pppGpp), tetra- (ppGpp), or triphosphate (GTP). However, these nucleotides appeared in the first minutes of germination, and thereafter all increased in parallel with a ratio of pppGpp plus ppGpp to GTP of 0.07 to 0.11, which is characteristic of unstarved vegetative cells.

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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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