DISTRIBUTION OF POLYAMINES IN ESCHERICHIA-COLI AND THEIR INVOLVEMENT IN POTASSIUM EXCHANGE BETWEEN THE CELL AND THE ENVIRONMENT DURING AEROBIOSIS ANAEROBIOSIS TRANSITIONS
Ag. Tkachenko et al., DISTRIBUTION OF POLYAMINES IN ESCHERICHIA-COLI AND THEIR INVOLVEMENT IN POTASSIUM EXCHANGE BETWEEN THE CELL AND THE ENVIRONMENT DURING AEROBIOSIS ANAEROBIOSIS TRANSITIONS, Microbiology, 65(1), 1996, pp. 6-9
The transition of E. coli cells to anaerobiosis is accompanied by the
onset of two cellular cation flows in different directions: potassium
is released into the environment, and putrescine enters the cells. If
aerobic conditions are reestablished, the cation flows change directio
ns. Under anaerobiosis, the cell components bind putrescine. Investiga
tion of the chemical interactions resulting in putrescine binding and
metabolic convertion under anaerobic conditions revealed DNA to be the
main putrescine target in this process. The driving forces and mechan
isms of cation transfer are discussed, and the involvement of putresci
ne in topological changes in the DNA and the development of adaptive c
ell responses to anaerobiosis is considered.