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. 1977 Feb;11(2):318–323. doi: 10.1128/aac.11.2.318

Tetracycline Inhibits Propagation of Deoxyribonucleic Acid Replication and Alters Membrane Properties

Martin L Pato 1
PMCID: PMC351974  PMID: 403855

Abstract

Tetracycline, at concentrations greater than required for inhibition of protein synthesis, rapidly and completely inhibits replication of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis. At these concentrations of tetracycline, synthesis of ribonucleic acid is not appreciably altered. In addition to inhibiting DNA replication, tetracycline causes alterations of the cytoplasmic membrane resulting in leakage of intracellular pools of nucleotides, amino acids, and the non-metabolizable sugar analogue, thiomethylgalactoside. As DNA is synthesized at a site on the membrane, alterations of membrane structure by tetracycline may be responsible for the observed inhibition of DNA replication.

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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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