Control of ribosomal RNA synthesis in Escherichia coli. IV. Frequency of transcription of ribosomal RNA genes as a function of growth rate.

Nucleoids were isolated from Escherichia coli B/r cells in steady-stage growth at different rates. The number of RNA chains growing on each nucleoid was estimated from the amount and size of RNAs synthesized by endogenous RNA polymerase. This figure represents the number of RNA polymerase molecules that are functioning in transcription and thus serves to indicate the frequency of transcription in the cells. With an increase in the growth rate from 0.27 to 1.73 (h-1), (a) the number of total RNA chains per genome increases from about 252 to 838, (b) the number of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) chains per genome increases as a function of the second power of the growth rate from about 19 to 255, and (c) the number of non-rRNA chains per genome increases linearly from about 233 to 538.