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Inhibition of Growth and Nucleic Acid Synthesis in Iron-Deficient Mycobacterium smegmatis
Abstract
Surmmary
Comparative studies of growth, yield of organism and synthesis of nucleic acids were made on a strain of Mycobacterium smegmatis grown with and without sufficient iron. Although the bacteria grew exponentially at the same rate in the iron-deficient medium as in the iron-replete medium, the content of RNA and DNA was lower in the iron-deficient bacteria. In the iron-deficient cultures, growth ceased abruptly after an exponential phase characterized by an inhibition of DNA synthesis. The pH value of the medium became increasingly acidic as iron-deficient growth proceeded.
- Accepted:
- Published Online:
© Society for General Microbiology 1967