Summary
Escherichia coli, cultured on minimal medium and deprived of its required amino-acids, was induced for lac genes transcription. After inducer removal and restoration of growth, β-galactosidase synthesis was measured. Two different kinetics of enzyme synthesis were observed depending on the starvation conditions employed during the induction period:
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1.
β-galactosidase synthesis was immediately obtained and a plateau was reached, in 20 min after restoration of growth, when cells had been induced during deprivation of amino-acids and carbon source.
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2.
β-galactosidase displayed an unusually long rate of synthesis and plateau was not reached before two doubling times, when cells had been induced during the deprivation of the sole amino-acids.
The latter result points out a problem of messenger stability during those long translation kinetics and led us to study the behaviour of strains carrying lac genetic determinants on different replicative structures: chromosomic and plasmidic.
In those two situations, induction of lac messenger RNA was obtained and ratify our previous observations. However, their translation kinetics suggest a DNA linkage of this induced messenger.
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de Rivas, C.S., Mendez, B.S. Unusual stability and translation kinetics of an Escherichia coli lac messenger RNA synthetized during amino-acids deprivation. Molec. Gen. Genet. 156, 229–232 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00283496
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00283496