High resolution autoradiography of Escherichia coli cells infected with bacteriophage R17.

Granboulan, Nicole (Institute de Recherches sur le Cancer, Villejuif, Seine, France), and Richard M. Franklin. High-resolution autoradiography of Escherichia coli cells infected with bacteriophage R17. J. Bacteriol. 91:849-857. 1966.-The ultrastructural alterations in Escherichia coli infected with the RNA bacteriophage R17 were further investigated by means of the technique of high-resolution autoradiography. Tritiated precursors to ribonucleic acid (RNA), deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), and protein were employed in separate experiments. A striking inhibition of cellular RNA, DNA, and protein synthesis was noted. Whereas normal RNA synthesis occurs in the nucleoid, in infected cells RNA synthesis is predominantly cytoplasmic, but later in the latent period, and during the stage of active viral growth, the label is localized in a polar region. In the late stages of viral growth, RNA synthesis occurs only around the crystals. Protein synthesis also becomes localized in a polar region, but DNA synthesis remains confined to the nucleoid. Under conditions of chloramphenicol inhibition of viral-coat protein synthesis, RNA label is localized in the paranuclear lesion, providing further indication that RNA forms this fibrillar structure.