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Effect of Ca²⁺ on the Synthesis of Deoxyribonucleic Acid in Virulent and Avirulent Yersinia¹

^a Department of Microbiology and Public Health, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48823

ABSTRACT

Virulent and potentially virulent cells of Yersinia (Pasteurella) pestis produce virulence or V and W antigens (VW⁺) but remain static at 37 C during aeration in enriched Ca²⁺-deficient media containing 0.02 M Mg²⁺. In this environment, which simulates mammalian intracellular fluid, VW⁺ cells possessed a functional cytoplasmic membrane as judged by concentration of ¹⁴C-isoleucine, release of ³²P, and consumption of oxygen at rates comparable to those of dividing cells cultivated with Ca²⁺. Furthermore, rates of protein and ribonucleic acid synthesis were essentially identical in dividing and static VW⁺ cells and in mutant VW^– organisms. However, the rate of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesis in static cells was about 10% of that observed in dividing organisms. Accordingly, bacteriostasis of VW⁺ cells in the simulated intracellular environment is evidently caused by reactions directly associated with cessation of DNA synthesis rather than by alterations in the regulatory capacity of the cytoplasmic membrane.

¹ This paper is based on portions of a dissertation submitted by G. C. H. Yang to the Department of Microbiology and Public Health of Michigan State University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. degree.