Synthesis of ribosomal and transfer ribonucleic acids in yeast during a nutritional shift-up

Abstract

The growth rate of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was increased by adding a mixture of amino acids to cultures containing proline as the sole nitrogen source. The transition from balanced growth in the basal medium (doubling time 4 h) to balanced growth in the enriched medium (doubling time 2 h) took about 2-5 h. The rate of RNA accumulation increased soon after the enrichment to almost its final value. This increase began after a short lag of 10 to 15 min, therefore synthesis of new RNA polymerase molecules may be required before stable RNA production can increase. The different stable RNA species were not stimulated at different times after the enrichment, but all increased continuosly throughout the transition. The rRNA species accumulated in a co-ordinate fashion at a rate faster than the rate of tRNA accumulation.