Cation transport in Escherichia coli. VII. Potassium requirement for phosphate uptake.

When Escherichia coli K-12 is grown in media containing limiting amounts of K, growth continues normally until all the extracellular K has been consumed. Thereafter the rates of growth, glucose consumption, and oxygen consumption decrease progressively, and the cell contents of K and P fall. These changes, referred to as K limitation, are all reversed by the addition of K. By specifically altering the ionic composition of the cells it was shown that these metabolic disturbances are not due to changes in the cell content of K or Na, but are directly related to the absence of K from the extracellular medium. The cell pool of inorganic P and the uptake of PO(4) from the medium are low in K-limited cells and are immediately stimulated by the addition of K, suggesting that the primary effect of K limitation is to inhibit PO(4) uptake. All the metabolic effects of K limitation can be attributed to inhibition of PO(4) uptake. The requirement of extracellular K for PO(4) uptake may be due to a coupling between the uptake of K and PO(4).