Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Bacteriology logoLink to Journal of Bacteriology
. 1970 Sep;103(3):697–701. doi: 10.1128/jb.103.3.697-701.1970

Regulation of Ribonucleic Acid Synthesis by Histidine and Methionine During Recovery of Escherichia coli from Magnesium Starvation1

Graham R Cleaves a, Paul S Cohen a
PMCID: PMC248146  PMID: 4919989

Abstract

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.

Full text

PDF
697

Selected References

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

  1. Boyle S. M., Cohen P. S. Putrescine-mediated degradation of ribonucleic acid in chloramphenicol-treated Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1968 Oct;96(4):1266–1272. doi: 10.1128/jb.96.4.1266-1272.1968. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Cohen P. S., Ennis H. L. Amino acid regulation of RNA synthesis during recovery of Escherichia coli from Mg2+ starvation. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1967 Sep 26;145(2):300–309. doi: 10.1016/0005-2787(67)90048-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Cohen P. S., Ennis H. L. The requirement for potassium for bacteriophage T4 protein and deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis. Virology. 1965 Nov;27(3):282–289. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(65)90107-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cohen S. S., Hoffner N., Jansen M., Moore M., Raina A. POLYAMINES, RNA SYNTHESIS, AND STREPTOMYCIN LETHALITY IN A RELAXED MUTANT OF E. coli STRAIN 15 TAU. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1967 Mar;57(3):721–728. doi: 10.1073/pnas.57.3.721. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. FANGMAN W. L., NEIDHARDT F. C. PROTEIN AND RIBONUCLEIC ACID SYNTHESIS IN A MUTANT OF ESCHERICHIA COLI WITH AN ALTERED AMINOACYL RIBONUCLEIC ACID SYNTHETASE. J Biol Chem. 1964 Jun;239:1844–1847. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. GROS F., GROS Françoise Role des acides amines dans la synthèse des acides nucléiques chez Escherichia coli. Exp Cell Res. 1958 Feb;14(1):104–131. doi: 10.1016/0014-4827(58)90218-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Lefkovits I., Di Girolamo M. Reutilization of ribosomal proteins in vivo for the formation of new ribosomal particles in Escherichia coli B. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1969 Feb 18;174(2):566–573. doi: 10.1016/0005-2787(69)90286-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Matchett W. H. Methionine and the regulation of ribonucleic acid synthesis in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1967 Jan;93(1):90–97. doi: 10.1128/jb.93.1.90-97.1967. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Nakada D., Marquisee M. J. Relaxed synthesis of ribosomal RNA by a stringent strain of Escherichia coli. J Mol Biol. 1965 Sep;13(2):351–361. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(65)80102-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Natori S., Nozawa R., Mizunod The turnover of ribosomal RNA of Escherichia coli in a magnesium-deficient stage. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1966 Feb 21;114(2):245–253. doi: 10.1016/0005-2787(66)90306-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. PARDEE A. B., PRESTIDGE L. S. The dependence of nucleic acid synthesis on the presence of amino acids in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1956 Jun;71(6):677–683. doi: 10.1128/jb.71.6.677-683.1956. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Raina A., Cohen S. S. Polyamines and RNA synthesis in a polyauxotrophic strain of E. coli. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1966 Jun;55(6):1587–1593. doi: 10.1073/pnas.55.6.1587. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Raina A., Jansen M., Cohen S. S. Polyamines and the accumulation of ribonucleic acid in some polyauxotrophic strains of Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1967 Nov;94(5):1684–1696. doi: 10.1128/jb.94.5.1684-1696.1967. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Ron E. Z., Davis B. D. Specific stimulation of RNA synthesis by methionine in several strains of Escherichia coli. J Mol Biol. 1966 Oct 28;21(1):13–27. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(66)90076-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. SUZUKI H., HAYASHI Y. THE FORMATION OF "RIBOSOMAL RNA" IN ESCHERICHIA COLI DURING RECOVERY FROM MAGNESIUM STARVATION. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1964 Aug 12;87:610–620. doi: 10.1016/0926-6550(64)90279-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Shih A. Y., Eisenstadt J., Lengyel P. On the relation between ribonucleic acid synthesis and peptide chain initiation in E. coli. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1966 Nov;56(5):1599–1605. doi: 10.1073/pnas.56.5.1599. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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

RESOURCES