Synthesis of inducible enzyme in Escherichia coli recovering from prolonged energy starvation.

A marked breakdown of ribosomes and rRNA occurs in Escherichia coli cells during prolonged deprivation of a carbon source (energy starvation). In E. coli recovering from energy starvation: (a) synthesis of RNA started immediately, total protein synthesis showed a delay of 5 to 10 minutes; (b) beta-galactosidase, tryptophanase and serine deaminase could not be induced in the first 50--70 min; (c) a lag of 60 min in the synthesis of beta-galactosidase was observed in a lac constitutive mutant of E. coli; synthesis of the constitutive enzyme malate dehydrogenase did not shown any delay. RNA synthesized in the early stages of recovery contained a higher percentage of low molecular weight molecules than RNA synthesized after 70 min of recovery or during exponential growth. Messenger RNA specific for beta-galactosidase was not synthesized for the first 50--60 min of recovery even when the specific inducer was added to the cultures.