STUDIES ON A MUTANT OF ESCHERICHIA COLI WITH UNBALANCED RIBONUCLEIC ACID SYNTHESIS

Abstract
Metabolic studies are reported on a mutant of E. coli strain K12 which accumulates ribonucleic acid (RNA) on methionine starvation. The RNA enriched organism is slow in synthesizing both adaptive enzymes and its usual proteins. Unbalanced cytoplasmic synthesis of RNA, unlike unbalanced synthesis of RNA and protein, is not lethal. The synthesis of RNA in the organism starved of methionine is uniquely sensitive to radiation.