Acid-Soluble Nucleotides in an Asporogenous Mutant of Bacillus subtilis

Abstract

An asporogenous mutant of Bacillus subtilis Sp − H12-3, which is considered to have a block at stage 0, showed general growth characteristics similar to those of sporulating cultures. However, a sudden increase in the total amount of acid-soluble nucleotides observed at t 2 in sporulating bacteria was completely absent in this mutant. In sporulating cells, a marked increase in two nucleotides which were identified to be uridine diphosphate (UDP)-galactose and UDP- N -acetylglucosamine was noted, whereas UDP-glucose appeared to be accumulated in the mutant cells at t 2 . No unusual nucleotides were found in the strains of B. subtilis examined. The possible role of these UDP derivatives in early stages of sporulation in B. subtilis is discussed.