Summary
The rate of synthesis of ribosomal protein relative to total protein synthesis (α r ) was found to vary during the cell cycle of Escherichia coli B/r. It is greater than the average value in newly arisen daughter cells and below average, when cells near division.
The increase of α r follows the initiation of chromosome replication and can be understood as a consequence of the duplication of ribosomal protein genes, since many of them are clustered relatively close to the origin of replication. The variations of α r are being compared with the relative rate of fully induced β-galactosidase synthesis (α lac ) over the cell cycle, and possible constitutivity of ribosomal protein genes as proposed by Maaløe (1969) is discussed.
If the ribosomal efficiency is constant during the cell cycle, the observed variation of α r implies that the increase in total protein deviates from an exponent by 3% over the cell cycle of E. coli B/r growing in glycerol medium.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bennett, P. M., Maaløe, O.: The effects of fusidic acid on growth, ribosome synthesis and RNA metabolism in Escherichia coli. J. molec. Biol., sub. (1974)
Bird, R. E., Louarn, J., Martuscelli, J., Caro, L.: Origin and sequence of chromosome replication in E. coli. J. molec. Biol. 70, 549–566 (1972)
Clark, D. J., Maaløe, O.: DNA replication and the division cycle in E. coli. J. molec. Biol. 23, 99–112 (1967)
Dennis, P. P.: Regulation of stable RNA synthesis in E. coli. Nature (Lond.) New Biol. 232, 43–47 (1971)
Dennis, P. P.: Stable RNA synthesis during the cell cycle in slowly growing E. coli B/r. J. biol. Chem. 247, 204–208 (1972)
Forchhammer, J., Lindahl, L.: Growth rate of polypeptide chains as a function of the cell growth rate in a mutant of E. coli 15. J. molec. Biol. 55, 563–568 (1971)
Gausing, K.: Ribosomal protein in E. coli: Rate of synthesis and pool size at different growth rates. Molec. gen. Genet. 129, 61–75 (1974)
Gupta, R. S., Singh, U. N.: Biogenesis of ribosomes: Free ribosomal protein pools in E. coli. J. molec. Biol. 69, 279–301 (1972)
Helmstetter, C. E., Cooper, S.: DNA synthesis during the division cycle of rapidly growing E. coli B/r. J. molec. Biol. 31, 507–518 (1968)
Helmstetter, C. E., Cooper, S., Pierucci, O., Revelas, E.: On the bacterial life sequence. Cold Spr. Harb. Symp. quant. Biol. 33, 809–822 (1968)
Helmstetter, C. E., Cummings, D. J.: Bacterial synchronization by selection of cells at division. Proc. nat. Acad. Sci. (Wash.) 50, 767–774 (1963)
Helmstetter, C. E., Cummings, D. J.: An improved method for the selection of bacterial cells at division. Biochim. biophys. Acta (Amst.) 82, 608–610 (1964)
Kjeldgaard, N. O., Kurland, C. G.: The distribution of soluble and ribosomal RNA as a function of growth rate. J. molec. Biol. 6, 341–348 (1963)
Koch, A. L.: Overall controls on the biogenesis of ribosomes in growing bacteria. J. theor. Biol. 203–231 (1970)
Koch, A. L.: The adaptive responses of E. coli to a feast and famine existence. Advanc. microbiol. Physiol. 6, 147–217 (1971)
Kubitschek, H. E.: Linear cell growth in E. coli. Biophys. J. 8, 792–804 (1968)
Kubitscheck, H. E.: Potassium uptake in synchronous and synchronized cultures of E. coli. Biophys. J. 11, 787–797 (1971)
Lindahl, L.: Studies on intermediates and time kinetics of the assembly of ribosomes in E. coli. Thesis, University of Copenhagen (1973)
Lindahl, L., Forchhammer, J.: Evidence for reduced breakdown of messenger RNA during blocked transcription and translation in E. coli. J. molec. Biol. 43, 593–606 (1969)
Maaløe, O.: An analysis of bacterial growth. Develop. Biol., Suppl. 3, 33–58 (1969)
Maaløe, O., Kjeldgaard, N. O.: Control of macromolecular synthesis. New York-Amsterdam: W. A. Benjamin 1966
Masters, M., Broda, P.: Evidence for the bidirectional replication of the E. coli chromosome. Nature (Lond.) New Biol. 232, 137–140 (1971)
Matzura, H., Hansen, B. S., Zeuthen, J.: Biosynthesis of β and β′ subunits of RNA polymerase in E. coli. J. molec. Biol. 74, 9–20 (1973)
Pato, M. L., Glaser, D. A.: The origin and direction of replication of the chromosome of E. coli. Proc. nat. Acad. Sci. (Wash.) 60, 1268–1274 (1968)
Powell, E. O.: Growth rate and generation time of bacteria, with special reference to continuous culture. J. gen. Microbiol. 15, 492–511 (1956)
Powell, E. O.: An outline of bacterial generation times. J. gen. Microbiol. 18, 382–417 (1958)
Pritchard, R. H.: On the growth and form of bacterial cell. Proc. roy. Soc. B, in press (1973)
Schleif, R.: Control of production of ribosomal protein. J. molec. Biol. 27, 41–55 (1967)
Takata, R.: Genetic studies of the ribosomal proteins in E. coli. VIII. Mapping of ribosomal protein components by intergenic mating experiments between Serratia marcenscens and E. coli. Molec. gen. Genet. 118, 363–371 (1972)
Taylor, A. L., Trotter, C. D.: Linkage map of E. coli strain K-12. Bact. Rev. 36, 504–524 (1972)
Zar itsky, A., Pritchard, R. H.: Replication time of the chromosome in thymineless mutants of E. coli. J. molec. Biol. 60, 65–74 (1971)
Zeuthen, J., Pato, M. L.: Replication of the F'lac sex factor in the cell cycle of E. coli. Molec. gen. Genet. 111, 242–255 (1971)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by H. G. Wittmann
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zaritsky, A., von Meyenburg, K. Synthesis of ribosomal protein during the cell cycle of Escherichia coli B/r. Molec. Gen. Genet. 129, 217–227 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00267914
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00267914