RNA synthesis and the accumulation of guanine nucleotides during growth shift down in the blue-green alga Anacystis nidulans

Abstract

Shift down of growth rate in the blue-green alga Anacystis nidulans by reduction of the incident light intensity produced a reduction in the rate of stable RNA accumulation which was correlated with increased concentrations of three phosphorylated compounds, two of which were identified as guanosine 5'-diphosphate-3'-diphosphate (ppGpp) and guanosine 5'-triphosphate3'-diphosphate (pppGpp). The step also causes a large but transient increase in the concentration of GTP. Stable RNA fails to accumulate for a considerable length of time after the concentrations of ppGpp and pppGpp have fallen, suggesting the involvement of another mechanism in the control of stable RNA accumulation.