Occurrence of cell-cycle-specific events in the absence of DNA synthesis as studied using synchronized cells of Bacillus subtilis.

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Abstract
Synchronized cells of B. subtilis 168 (Thy His) and the B. subtilis DNA elongation mutant ts526, were used to study the effects of the inhibition of DNA synthesis on the cell cycle-specific events. When DNA synthesis of strain 168 was inhibited by thymine deprivation from the beginning of the cell cycle, septum formation and cell division were possible in the ongoing cell cycle but not in the forthcoming one. Results of the upward temperature shift experiments with ts526 supported these observations. Fluctuation of penicllin sensitivity and stepwise increase in peptidoglycan synthesis during the cell cycle, which were observed in the presence of DNA synthesis, occurred only in the ongoing cell cycle in the absence of DNA synthesis. These cell cycle-specific events are apparently intimately connected with septum formation and cell division and are not affected by DNA inhibition in the ongoing cell cycle.