RNA dependence in the cell cycle of V79 cells.

The cell cycle of V79 Chinese hamster lung cells synchronized by hydroxyurea was investigated by flow cytometry. The metachromatic fluorochrome acridine orange was used to differentially stain DNA and RNA of V79 cells. Green and red fluorescence from individual cells, representing cellular DNA and RNA, respectively, was measured by flow cytometry. Periodic changes of cellular DNA and RNA contents were observed over nine cell cycles. The duration of G1, S, and G2 + M phases of synchronized V79 cells whose RNA content was close to that of the cells in balanced growth was 3, 4.5, and 1.5 hours, respectively. The duration of G1 and S phases of cells containing RNA above a certain threshold was inversely proportional to the RNA content. The RNA content of cells containing RNA above the normal level regressed to normal after a few generations. Coefficients of variation for RNA content were significantly larger than those for DNA. An explanation for the decay of synchrony in a synchronized cell population is proposed.