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Induction of Colicin Production by High Temperature or Inhibition of Protein Synthesis

¹ Biology Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139

ABSTRACT

Escherichia coli K-12 colicinogenic for ColE1 yielded mutants that appeared to produce colicin at 43 C but not at 30 or 37. These mutants proved to have the mutation recA^– Further study revealed that both recA^– and recA⁺ bacteria, when carrying ColE1 or ColE2, produce more colicin during growth at higher temperatures or after brief exposure to temperatures beyond the growth range. Counts of lacunae demonstrated that the increase of colicin production is due to an increase in the number of cells that yield colicin. Heat treatment causes lacunae to increase by the same factor in recA⁺ and recA^– cells, although recA^– bacteria produce 500 times fewer lacunae than recA⁺. Inhibition of protein synthesis, notably by chloramphenicol, also induces colicin production in as much as 90% of the cells after removal of inhibition (to permit colicin synthesis). Induction of colicin production by chloramphenicol requires that ribonucleic acid synthesis continue during the period of inhibition. These results are discussed in relation to the regulation of colicin production.

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