Ribonucleic Acid Synthesis and Glutamate Excretion in Escherichia coli

Abstract

Cultures of Escherichia coli excreted glutamate into the medium when protein synthesis was blocked in RC rel strains or when it was blocked with chloramphenicol in either RC str or RC rel strains. Both of these conditions resulted in continued ribonucleic acid (RNA) synthesis in the absence of protein synthesis. Glutamate was also excreted by both RC str and RC rel strains when RNA synthesis was inhibited by uracil starvation or by treatment with actinomycin D. It is proposed that, in each of these cases, glutamate excretion resulted from an increase in the permeability of the cell membrane.