Metabolism of resistant mutants of Streptococcus faecalis. IV. Use of a biophotometer in growth-curve studies

Coultas, M. Katharine (Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research, Rye, N.Y.) and Dorris J. Hutchison. Metabolism of resistant mutants of Streptococcus faecalis. IV. Use of a biophotometer in growth-curve studies. J. Bacteriol. 84:393-401. 1962. - Analysis of data obtained using the Bonet-Maury and Jouan biophotometer has shown it to be an accurate, automatic device for recording an entire bacterial growth curve, from which quantitative measurements of growth rate can be calculated. Growth rate values obtained in this manner agree with those obtained by conventional methods. The instrument is described in detail and reference is given to other uses of this type of photometer. The growth curves of Streptococcus faecalis ATCC 8043 and three mutants resistant to purine analogues were compared in media with and without a purine. Differences in these growth curves were evident. In the purine-deficient medium SF/AZAG, the 8-azaguanine-resistant mutant had the shortest doubling time, 61 min, followed by the two 6-mercaptopurine-resistant mutants (SF/MPcc, 72 min; SF/MP, 91 min), and finally the wild strain with a doubling time of 135 min. In the medium supplemented with xanthine, the respective doubling times were 52, 61, 68, and 68 min.

Inhibition of protein syntheses during meiosis and its bearing on intracellular regulation

Several parameters of meiosis have been studied in cultured anthers of Trillium erectum. The accessibility of labeled substrates to meiotic cells and the fate of these substrates in relation to meiotic stage have been determined. Evidence has been adduced for the synthesis of RNA and protein during the meiotic cycle well after chromosome duplication. The effect of interfering with systems directly or indirectly connected with protein formation has been studied by means of chloramphenicol, 8-azaguanine, 5-methyltryptophan, and ethionine. Administration of these reagents at different intervals in the cycle elicits correspondingly different responses thereby indicating a periodicity in the activities of different systems. The following processes have been shown to be affected in these experiments: chromosome segregation, chromosome morphology, cytokinesis, wall synthesis, and enzyme appearance. The possibility of experimentally altering the normal sequence of events has also been shown.

STUDIES ON ANTIBODY PRODUCTION. XII. INHIBITION OF PRIMING BY DRUGS

The effect of drugs upon the primary and the secondary antibody response to diphtheria toxoid in mice was studied using an experimental system previously described. Triethylenethiophosphoramide (thio-TEPA), chloramphenicol, 6-mercaptopurine, 8-azaguanine, and versenate were found to inhibit, partially or completely,"priming" for the secondary response. Thio-TEPA, chloramphenicol, and 6-mercaptopurine, in doses exceeding those effective in inhibiting priming, did not cause alteration of the secondary response when given only during the secondary response. However, when chloramphenicol and amethopterin were given for 5 days prior to and at least 5 days after the second antigen injection, slight suppression of peak secondary titers occurred. Therefore, drug dosages effective in suppressing priming had less effect on the secondary response. It thus appears that there is a real difference between "priming" and the induction of antibody synthesis.

SELECTION OF HYBRIDS FROM MATINGS OF FIBROBLASTS IN VITRO AND THEIR PRESUMED RECOMBINANTS

When two clonal lines of mouse fibroblasts, each containing a drug-resistant marker, are grown together for 4 days, hybrid cells can be detected by selective conditions. These hybrid cells are presumed to be the result of mating. By the same method evidence can be obtained which suggests that mating may be followed by segregation.

EFFECTS OF BACTERIAL ENDOTOXINS ON METABOLISM. VII. ENZYME INDUCTION AND CORTISONE PROTECTION

Cortisone acetate administered to mice at the same time as either the LD(50) or 2 x LD(50) of endotoxin significantly protected against lethality. Delaying the injection of cortisone to 1, 2, or 4 hours after that of endotoxin resulted in loss of protection with the possible exception of a 1 hour delay with the LD(50) of endotoxin. Associated with this loss of protection was the failure of the hormone to induce liver tryptophan pyrrolase. Normal mice given only cortisone showed an increase in enzyme activity nearly three times that of control values when assays were carried out either 4 or 17 hours after the hormone was given. Endotoxin-poisoned mice showed normal levels of enzyme activity with concurrent injection of cortisone but depressed levels of enzyme when the cortisone injection was delayed for only 1 hour or more. Apparently, therefore, enzyme induction (or maintenance) is related to survival in endotoxin poisoning. In line with this hypothesis was the observation that inhibitors of enzyme (protein) synthesis were found to potentiate the lethal action of endotoxin and to prevent the protective effect of cortisone. The inhibitors employed were actinomycin D, ethionine, 2-thiouracil, and 8-azaguanine. Activity of liver tryptophan pyrrolase was lowered by endotoxin and elevated by cortisone. When the two were given concurrently, normal enzyme activity was maintained. Chloramphenicol, an active inhibitor of protein synthesis in microorganisms but with limited effect in mammals, was without observable influence in these respects. Mice 18 hours postinfection with Salmonella typhimurium, strain SR-11, given at a level that caused first deaths on the 3rd day, had a lower than normal activity of liver tryptophan pyrrolase and responded to cortisone induction with a smaller increase in enzyme level than that found in control mice. Each is characteristic of endotoxin poisoning. Animals 42 hours postinfection were free of these signs of endointoxication, an observation in agreement with earlier experiments where other measures of endotoxin were employed.

DIFFERENTIATION OF PATHOGENIC AND SAPROPHYTIC LEPTOSPIRES WITH 8-AZAGUANINE

Johnson, Russell C. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis), and Palmer Rogers. Differentiation of pathogenic and saprophytic leptospires with 8-azaguanine. J. Bacteriol. 88:1618-1623. 1964.-The use of the purine analogue, 8-azaguanine, as a differential agent for the separation of pathogenic and saprophytic leptospires was investigated. Growth of strains of the saprophyte Leptospira biflexa was almost insensitive to the bacteriostatic action of 8-azaguanine at concentrations varying from 25 to 600 mug/ml; these saprophytic leptospires were serially transferred five times in media containing 225 mug without any change in growth rate or cell yield. In contrast, decreased growth rate and cell yield of the pathogenic serotypes were observed with 25 to 50 mug/ml of 8-azaguanine. Complete inhibition of growth occurred at concentrations of 100 mug/ml and above. A medium containing 225 mug/ml of 8-azaguanine was successfully used to differentiate 20 serotypes of pathogenic leptospires and 10 saprophytic strains. L. andaman CH11, L. semarang Veldrat S1 73, and L. andaman Correa, were classified with the L. biflexa strains on the basis of their growth response to 8-azaguanine.

INHIBITION OF THE LYMPHOCYTE RESPONSE TO INFLAMMATION WITH ANTIMETABOLITES

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