THE CONTROL OF SULPHATE ACTIVATION IN BACTERIA

Abstract
Adenosinetriphosphate (ATP)-sulfate adenylyltransferase (EC 2.7.7.4)and ATP-adenylyl sulfate 3[image]-phosphotransferase (EC 2.7.1.25) of Escherichia coli 9723, E. coli K12 and Bacillus subtilis 1379 are each repressed by growth in the presence of cystine. Repression of the two enzymes in E. coli 9723 may be co-ordinate. The ATP-sulfate adenylyltransferase of Desulfovibrio desulfuricans, in which sulfate reduction is linked to the energy supply of the organism, is not repressed by growth in the presence of inorganic sulfite or cysteine. Leuconostoc mesenteroides lacks all the enzymes between sulfate and cysteine whether grown on cysteine or glutathione.