Synthesis of heteropolyribonucleotides by toluene-treated Escherichia coli cells

Escherichia coli cells, made permeable to ribonucleoside-5'-diphosphates by treatment with toluene, efficiently promote the synthesis of homo- and heteropolynucleotides. This synthesis is catalyzed by polynucleotide phosphorylase because, among other things, it is inhibited by orthophosphate, and E. coli Q13, a mutant having a Mn-2+-dependent polynucleotide phosphorylase, promotes polynucleotide synthesis in the presence of Mn-2+ but not of Mg-2+. Cells of E. coli B and E. coli MRE 600 (A Mutant lacking ribonuclease I) are about equally active in promoting poly(A, U, G, C) synthesis. Sucrose density gradient and agarose gel electrophoretic analysis of the product show that it is polydisperse with sedimentation coefficients ranging between 4 S and 27 S. The synthesized polynucleotides can be translated by the toluene-treated cells.