This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Oka, T. Articles by Kinoshita, S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Oka, T. Articles by Kinoshita, S.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

J Bacteriol. 1968 November; 96(5): 1760-1767
Copyright © 1968 American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Unbalanced Growth Death Due to Depletion of Mn²⁺ in Brevibacterium ammoniagenes

^a Tokyo Research Laboratory, Kyowa Hakko Co., Machidashi, Tokyo, Japan

ABSTRACT

In the microbial conversion of added hypoxanthine to 5'-inosinic acid, Mn²⁺ concentration in the growth medium is known to have a profound effect both on the yield of 5'-inosinic acid and the morphology of cells of Brevibacterium ammoniagenes. To elucidate the mechanism in which Mn²⁺ was concerned with cell morphology and 5'-inosinic acid production, effects of Mn²⁺ on the macromolecular synthesis were measured. It was found that Mn²⁺ strongly governed deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesis and that, in the medium lacking Mn²⁺, DNA synthesis was stopped at the level corresponding to one-fourth to one-third that in the medium supplemented with Mn²⁺ (100 µg/liter). On the other hand, cellular ribonucleic acid and protein synthesis was quite indifferent to Mn²⁺ concentration. Consequently, cells showed so-called "unbalanced growth death" after 10 hr of culture, losing the ability to form colonies while cell mass was increasing. The elongated cells turned into irregular forms (bulbous, club-shaped, etc.) which finally lysed. Two main reaction components in the conversion of hypoxanthine to 5'-inosinic acid, phosphoribosylpyrophosphate and hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase, were liberated into the medium during lysis. The role of Mn²⁺ in the synthesis of DNA and the role of the unbalanced growth death in the conversion of hypoxanthine to 5'-inosinic acid are discussed.

¹ Present address: Prairie Regional Laboratory, National Research Council of Canada, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Torrents, E., Roca, I., Gibert, I. (2003). Corynebacterium ammoniagenes class Ib ribonucleotide reductase: transcriptional regulation of an atypical genomic organization in the nrd cluster. Microbiology 149: 1011-1020 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Fieschi, F., Torrents, E., Toulokhonova, L., Jordan, A., Hellman, U., Barbe, J., Gibert, I., Karlsson, M., Sjoberg, B.-M. (1998). The Manganese-containing Ribonucleotide Reductase of Corynebacterium ammoniagenes Is a Class Ib Enzyme. J. Biol. Chem. 273: 4329-4337 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Huque, Y., Fieschi, F., Torrents, E., Gibert, I., Eliasson, R., Reichard, P., Sahlin, M., Sjoberg, B.-M. (2000). The Active Form of the R2F Protein of Class Ib Ribonucleotide Reductase from Corynebacterium ammoniagenes Is a Diferric Protein. J. Biol. Chem. 275: 25365-25371 [Abstract] [Full Text]