Polyamines and protein synthesis: studies in various polyamine-requiring mutants of Escherichia coli

Different Escherichia coli mutants auxotrophic for polyamines were studied in order to investigate the relationships among polypeptide synthesis in cell-free systems, ribosomal distribution profiles and endogenous polyamine pools. The in vitro protein synthetic activity and the polyribosomal content were reduced in extracts from putrescine-starved cells of the double mutans MA 255 and MA 261, but not in the arginine-conditional auxotroph DK 6. Putrescine addition to the cultures of all these strains previously starved for polyamines, provoked a shift towards monomers in the equilibrium involving ribosomal particles. Concomitant changes in the intracellular levels of polyamines were observed: putrescine and spermidine increased markedly, and cadaverine disappeared.