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J Bacteriol. 1970 December; 104(3): 1236-1241
Copyright © 1970 American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Mechanism of Colicin Action: Early Events

¹ Department of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 63130

ABSTRACT

The kinetics and the temperature dependence of potassium loss from Escherichia coli cells treated with colicin K have been examined. At 37 C, after a single lethal hit, essentially all of the intracellular potassium is lost within the first few minutes of treatment. The initial rate of loss is linearly related to colicin concentration up to a multiplicity of 30. As the temperature is decreased over the range from 37 to 1 C, an increasing delay is seen in the initiation of potassium loss after colicin adsorption. This delay can be overcome by increasing colicin multiplicity and probably reflects an alteration of the cell membrane at these temperatures. A comparison of this effect with an apparently related effect of temperature on the action of irehdiamine A indicates that the delay may represent the inhibition of a transmission process occurring in the membrane.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Tory, M. C., Merrill, A. R. (1999). Adventures in Membrane Protein Topology. A STUDY OF THE MEMBRANE-BOUND STATE OF COLICIN E1. J. Biol. Chem. 274: 24539-24549 [Abstract] [Full Text]