Transcriptional inhibition and production of guanosine polyphosphates in Bacillus subtilis.

When exponentially growing cells of Bacillus subtilis were treated with rifampin or lipiarmycin, both inhibitors of the initiation of ribonucleic acid synthesis, large amounts of (p)ppGpp accumulated. This accumulation appears to be independent of the ribosome-dependent stringent factor reaction because both relA and relC mutants responded in a manner similar to that of the wild type. The possibility that ribonucleic acid polymerase is directly involved in (p)ppGpp metabolism is discussed.