Biosynthesis of RNA polymerase in Escherichia coli. II. control of RNA polymerase synthesis during nutritional shift up and down.

As an effort to elucidate the control of quality and quantity of the DNA-dependent RNA polymerase in Escherichia coli, the rate of synthesis of the individual subunits was determined during shift-up and -down of nutrients. When the strain B/r grown in a succinate medium was imposed to a shift-up by adding a mixture of glucose and amino acids, rapid rise was observed of the differential rates of the synthesis of alpha, beta and beta' subunits, the constituents of core enzyme, leading to the increase of core polymerase concentration. The differential rates decreased thereafter to the level characteristic of the post-shift rate of cell growth. Compared to the strain B/r, the adaptation was slow in the strain K12 W3350. On the other hand, upon transfer of the strain B/r from a glucose-amino acids medium to a glucose medium lacking amino acids, the differential rate of core polymerase synthesis decreased rapidly and then regained the rate characteristic of the new growth rate. Similar control was also observed on the rate of ribosomal protein synthesis suggesting the coordinate expression of genes for the core polymerase subunits and ribosomal proteins. Thus, the intracellular concentration of RNA polymerase as well as of ribosomes might be one of the most important factors that affect the rate of bacterial growth. The rate of alpha subunit synthesis, however, exhibited little change during the shift-up but a considerable decrease was observed during the shift-down.