Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Virology logoLink to Journal of Virology
. 1969 Jan;3(1):1–7. doi: 10.1128/jvi.3.1.1-7.1969

Potassium Requirement for Synthesis of Macromolecules in Bacillus subtilis Infected with Bacteriophage 2C 1

Dawn B Willis 1,2, Herbert L Ennis 1
PMCID: PMC375722  PMID: 4977239

Abstract

A mutant of Bacillus subtilis 168 (strain 168 KW), defective in its ability to concentrate K+ from low levels in the growth medium, was used to study the role of K+ in the development of phage 2C. Both the final burst size and the duration of the rise period depended on the K+ concentration in the medium. During normal infection (in the presence of K+), host deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesis stopped. The synthesis of host messenger ribonucleic acid (RNA) continued throughout infection, albeit at a steadily decreasing rate. The synthesis of ribosomal RNA and its subsequent incorporation into mature ribosomes also proceeded. In contrast to these findings, host DNA and messenger RNA synthesis were not inhibited in cells infected in the absence of K+. Only “early” phage messenger RNA was synthesized under these conditions of infection. Phage DNA synthesis was dependent on K+ irrespective of the requirement for this cation in protein synthesis.

Full text

PDF
1

Selected References

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

  1. Cohen P. S., Ennis H. L. In vivo stability of bacteriophage T4 messenger ribonucleic acid. J Bacteriol. 1966 Nov;92(5):1345–1350. doi: 10.1128/jb.92.5.1345-1350.1966. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. 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]
  3. DAVIS B. D., MINGIOLI E. S. Mutants of Escherichia coli requiring methionine or vitamin B12. J Bacteriol. 1950 Jul;60(1):17–28. doi: 10.1128/jb.60.1.17-28.1950. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. FARMER J. L., ROTHMAN F. TRANSFORMABLE THYMINE-REQUIRING MUTANT OF BACILLUS SUBTILS. J Bacteriol. 1965 Jan;89:262–263. doi: 10.1128/jb.89.1.262-263.1965. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Friesen J. D. Control of messenger RNA synthesis and decay in Escherichia coli. J Mol Biol. 1966 Oct;20(3):559–573. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(66)90011-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Friesen J. D., Dale B., Bode W. Presence of T4 "early" messenger RNA on polysomes late in infection. J Mol Biol. 1967 Sep 28;28(3):413–422. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(67)80090-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. GORINI L., KAUFMAN H. Selecting bacterial mutants by the penicillin method. Science. 1960 Feb 26;131(3400):604–605. doi: 10.1126/science.131.3400.604. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Gage L. P., Geiduschek E. P. Repression of early messenger transcription in the development of a bacteriophage. J Mol Biol. 1967 Dec 14;30(2):435–440. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. HALL B. D., NYGAARD A. P., GREEN M. H. CONTROL OF T2-SPECIFIC RNA SYNTHESIS. J Mol Biol. 1964 Jul;9:143–153. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(64)80096-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. KANO-SUEOKA T., SPIEGELMAN S. Evidence for a nonrandom reading of the genome. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1962 Nov 15;48:1942–1949. doi: 10.1073/pnas.48.11.1942. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. LUBIN M. INTRACELLULAR POTASSIUM AND CONTROL OF PROTEIN SYNTHESIS. Fed Proc. 1964 Sep-Oct;23:994–1001. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Munch-Petersen A. Thymidine breakdown and thymine uptake in different mutants of Escherichia coli. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1967 Jun 20;142(1):228–237. doi: 10.1016/0005-2787(67)90530-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Pène J. J., Marmur J. Deoxyribonucleic acid replication and expression of early and late bacteriophage functions in Bacillus subtilis. J Virol. 1967 Feb;1(1):86–91. doi: 10.1128/jvi.1.1.86-91.1967. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. ROMIG W. R., BRODETSKY A. M. Isolation and preliminary characterization of bacteriophages for Bacillus subtilis. J Bacteriol. 1961 Jul;82:135–141. doi: 10.1128/jb.82.1.135-141.1961. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. SPIEGELMAN S. The relation of informational RNA to DNA. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 1961;26:75–90. doi: 10.1101/sqb.1961.026.01.013. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. WIBERG J. S., DIRKSEN M. L., EPSTEIN R. H., LURIA S. E., BUCHANAN J. M. Early enzyme synthesis and its control in E. coli infected with some amber mutants of bacteriophage T4. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1962 Feb;48:293–302. doi: 10.1073/pnas.48.2.293. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Willis D. B., Ennis H. L. Ribonucleic acid and protein synthesis in a mutant of Bacillus subtilis defective in potassium retention. J Bacteriol. 1968 Dec;96(6):2035–2042. doi: 10.1128/jb.96.6.2035-2042.1968. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. YOUNG E. T., 2nd, SINSHEIMER R. L. A COMPARISON OF THE INITIAL ACTIONS OF SPLEEN DEOXYRIBONUCLEASE AND PANCREATIC DEOXYRIBONUCLEASE. J Biol Chem. 1965 Mar;240:1274–1280. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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

RESOURCES