Acid-soluble degradation products of ribonucleic acid in Escherichia coli and the role of nucleotidases in their catabolism

R Kaplan, L Cohen, E Yagil
1975 Journal of Bacteriology  
The fate of the internally formed nucleotides resulting from the degradation of ribonucleic acid was studied. Prelabeled Escherichia coli cells were submitted to carbon starvation, and the acid-soluble products were separated by thin-layer chromatography. It was determined that free bases constitute some 75% of the end product, the balance consisting of nucleoside diphosphates, 5'-nucleoside monophosphates, 3-nucleoside monophosphates, and nucleosides. The majority of degradation products,
more » ... ding phosphorylated derivatives, were excreted into the medium. The amount of products in the pool remained constant. The soluble products formed by E. coli mutants lacking either 5'-nucleotidase (Ush-) or 3'-nucleotidase (Cpd-) were compared with those produced by the parental strain with both enzymes. The results obtained indicated that 5'-nucleotidase is involved in the degradation of internally formed nucleotides but that 3'-nucleotidase takes no part in the process.
doi:10.1128/jb.124.3.1159-1164.1975 fatcat:u4frefqq4ngltph7krbq5zjgxa