%0 Journal Article %A Winder, F. G. %A Denneny, Joan M. %T The Metabolism of Inorganic Polyphosphate in Mycobacteria %D 1957 %J Microbiology, %V 17 %N 3 %P 573-585 %@ 1465-2080 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/00221287-17-3-573 %I Microbiology Society, %X SUMMARY: Cell-free extracts of Mycobacterium smegmatis contain an inorganic polyphosphatase and a ‘polyphosphate-AMP-phosphotransferase’. The latter enzyme, which synthesizes adenosine triphosphate from adenosine-5-monophosphate and inorganic polyphosphate, has a pH optimum of about 6·3, and is stimulated by Mg. It does not appear to be attached to cell particles, and a slight purification may be effected by ammonium sulphate precipitation. With a tracer technique it was shown that cellular inorganic polyphosphate is probably not the sole precursor either of lipid phosphorus or of nucleic acid phosphorus in M. smegmatis. The rapid accumulation of insoluble polyphosphate caused in M. smegmatis and M. phlei but not M. tuberculosis, by a number of organic substances, particularly alcohols, was studied. This accumulation takes place even after inoculation into a fresh nitrogenous medium, when polyphosphate normally decreases. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-17-3-573