Possible Involvement of Plasmid in Nucleotide Pyrophosphokinase Production and the Relationship between this Productivity and Cellular Accumulation of Guanosine Tetraphosphate(ppGpp) in Streptomycetes

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Abstract
The possible physiological function of nucleotide pyrophosphokinase (EC 2.7.6.4) which synthesizes a great variety of 3′-pyrophosphorylated nucleotides, including ppGpp, pppGpp and pppApp has been studied. Acriflavin treatment eliminated the production of this enzyme by Streptomyces morookaensis and suggests the possible involvement of plasmid: Irrespective of the ability to produce the enzyme, all Streptomyces species so far tested accumulated ppGpp and some pppGpp, whereas other highly phosphorylated nucleotides could not be detected. Furthermore, both the enzyme producing and non-producing strains accumulated similar quantities of ppGpp. These results indicate that the enzyme does not operate in vivo, at least under normal growth conditions.