The relationship of cardiolipin biosynthesis to mitochondrial protein synthesis in Tetrahymena pyriformis.

The synthesis of cardiolipin has been investigated following the inhibition of mitochondrial protein synthesis with chloramphenicol. Quantitative measurements of the amount of cardiolipin in the cell during treatment with chloramphenicol as well as pulse-labelling studies using labelled acetate were carried out. The results show that while whole cell phospholipid biosynthesis is depressed by the treatment (probably a reflection of a general cessation of growth), there is no sign of any preferential effect on cardiolipin synthesis. The data also show that as cells are reduced in size as they approach stationary phase there is a six- to seven-fold loss of total cellular phospholipids; however, the amount of cardiolipin is only reduced by four- to five-fold. There is a preferential conservation of cardiolipin as stationary phase is approached with the mole percent cardiolipin phosphorus in the cell rising from 5-7% to 10-12%.