REVERSIBLE SONIC INHIBITION OF PROTEIN, PURINE, AND PYRIMIDINE BIOSYNTHESIS IN THE LIVING CELL.

Yeast cells, carrying on normal biosyntheses in the treatment cup of a sonic oscillator, cease synthesis when the oscillator is operated at a critical low power level. Synthesis is resumed immediately when the oscillator is turned off. At the sonic intensities employed the cells are not extracted, uptake of ammonium ion is unaffected, and most cells remain viable. The inhibition may be the result of disruption of supramacromolecular organization in the cell.