Studies on Substances Which Increase RNA Content of Yeast Cells

Abstract

Abstract Active substances which increased RNA content and RNA productivity in yeast culture without affecting the growth rate of yeast were investigated. The remarkable effect of zinc ion on RNA accumulation was found in flask cultures of Candida utilis. The active substance of culture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was isolated from the culture filtrate of Streptomyces sp. S–22 and it was identified as anisomycin, an antiprotozoal and antifungal antibiotic. The effect of anisomycin on the enhancement of yeast RNA formation was shown only with the Saccharomyces genus, which was more sensitive to the antibiotic than other genus. This phenomenon was exhibited only in the case of anisomycin and cycloheximide, whose modes of action were similar among various antibiotics. The ratio of four nucleotides in RNA fraction was almost equal to that of ribosomal RNA.