Stability of ribosomal and transfer ribonucleic acid in Escherichia coli B/r after treatment with ethylenedinitrilotetraacetic acid and rifampicin.

A short treatment with ethylenedinitrilotetraacetic acid to permeabilize bacteria for various antibiotics or treatment with the ribonucleic acid (RNA) synthesis inhibitor rifampin causes a slow degradation of 50S and 30S ribosomal particles and of the corresponding 23S and 16S ribosomal RNA species (about 25 percent in 1 h). The effects are additive such that the decay is about 50 percent/h if rifampin is employed after permeabilization by ethylenedinitrilotetraacetic acid. The 5S ribosomal RNA and transfer RNA are essentially stable under these conditions.