Amino Acid Control over Deoxyribonucleic Acid Synthesis in Escherichia coli Infected With T-Even Bacteriophage

Abstract

Starvation for a required amino acid of normal or RC str Escherichia coli infected with T-even phages arrests further synthesis of phage deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). This amino acid control over phage DNA synthesis does not occur in RC rel E. coli mutants. Heat inactivation of a temperature-sensitive aminoacyl-transfer ribonucleic acid (RNA) synthetase similarly causes an arrest of phage DNA synthesis in infected cells of RC str phenotype but not in cells of RC rel phenotype. Inhibition of phage DNA synthesis in amino acid-starved RC str host cells can be reversed by addition of chloramphenicol to the culture. Thus, the general features of amino acid control over T-even phage DNA synthesis are entirely analogous to those known for amino acid control over net RNA synthesis of uninfected bacteria. This analogy shows that the bacterial rel locus controls a wider range of macromolecular syntheses than had been previously thought.