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. 1971 Jan;3(1):59–65. doi: 10.1128/iai.3.1.59-65.1971

Effect of Ca2+ on the Synthesis of Deoxyribonucleic Acid in Virulent and Avirulent Yersinia1

Gene C H Yang a, R R Brubaker a
PMCID: PMC416107  PMID: 16557947

Abstract

Virulent and potentially virulent cells of Yersinia (Pasteurella) pestis produce virulence or V and W antigens (VW+) but remain static at 37 C during aeration in enriched Ca2+-deficient media containing 0.02 m Mg2+. In this environment, which simulates mammalian intracellular fluid, VW+ cells possessed a functional cytoplasmic membrane as judged by concentration of 14C-isoleucine, release of 32P, and consumption of oxygen at rates comparable to those of dividing cells cultivated with Ca2+. Furthermore, rates of protein and ribonucleic acid synthesis were essentially identical in dividing and static VW+ cells and in mutant VW− organisms. However, the rate of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesis in static cells was about 10% of that observed in dividing organisms. Accordingly, bacteriostasis of VW+ cells in the simulated intracellular environment is evidently caused by reactions directly associated with cessation of DNA synthesis rather than by alterations in the regulatory capacity of the cytoplasmic membrane.

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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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