Role of potassium in the synthesis and decay of two specific bacteriophage T4 messages.

The role of K+ in the in vivo metabolism of specific phage T4 messengers was studied. By using a mutant of Escherichia coli defective in its ability to accumulate K+ from the growth medium, it was possible to rapidly deplete cells of their intracellular K+ and in this way determine K+-dependent reactions in vivo. The rate constants for accumulation, synthesis, and decay of the early enzymes deoxynucleotide kinase and alpha-glucosyl transferase were determined. It was shown that there is a very close association between mRNA synthesis and its decay, indicating that a mechanism may be present in the cell that can regulate the concentration of these RNAs. Since the mRNA's for these enzymes are very stable in cells depleted of K+, K+ depletion may be a useful method for the isolation of functional T4 mRNA.