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Heterogeneity of the Stability of Messenger Ribonucleic Acid in Salmonella typhimurium¹

^a Department of Bacteriology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana

ABSTRACT

Cells of Salmonella typhimurium strain SL 282, deflagellated by mechanical shear, regenerated their flagella in the absence of tryptophan, an amino acid required for growth but not found in flagellin. Ribonucleic acid (RNA) synthesis was severely inhibited by tryptophan starvation. These findings suggested that the messenger RNA (mRNA) for flagellin might be stable. Actinomycin D was used to inhibit RNA synthesis in ethylenediaminetetraacetate-treated bacteria. The introduction of an F_lac episome into strain SL 282 permitted the simultaneous study of the synthesis of flagellin, ß-galactosidase, and total protein. In the actinomycin-treated bacteria protein and ß-galactosidase syntheses were inhibited by 90%, whereas flagellin synthesis was unaffected. We conclude that the mRNA for flagellin synthesis is stable and that species of mRNA vary with respect to metabolic stability in S. typhimurium.

² Present address: Division of Research, National Jewish Hospital, and Department of Microbiology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver.

¹ Presented in part at the 66th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, Los Angeles, Calif., May, 1966.