ROLES OF THE RELA+ GENE AND OF 4-THIOURIDINE IN NEAR-ULTRAVIOLET (334 nm) RADIATION INHIBITION OF INDUCED SYNTHESIS OF TRYPTOPHANASE IN ESCHERICHIA COLI B/r

Abstract— Near-ultraviolet radiation (near UV; 300–380 nm) is known to inhibit the induced synthesis of tryptophanase by tryptophan in Escherichia coli , showing an action spectrum similar to that for near-UV-induced growth delay. The present work shows that a rel A mutant of E. coli B/r exhibits 50% as much monochromatic near-UV (334 nm) inhibition of tryptophanase induction as the wild type, and that a mutant lacking 4-thiouridine, an unusual nucleoside in tRNA, exhibits < 10% as much inhibition of tryptophanase induction. These findings indicate that 4-thiouridine is almost the sole chromophore for this effect in E. coli B/r, but that only 50% of the effect operates by a mechanism utilizing the rel A ⁺ gene product; growth delay appears not to be primarily involved.