Uptake and Incorporation of Exogenous Leucine in Bacterial Cells under High Oxygen Tension

Abstract

SINCE Moore and Williams observed growth inhibition of various aerobic bacteria at high oxygen tension (1911)¹, many attempts have been made to elucidate the mechanism and the site of oxygen toxicity in cells, but how high tension oxygen damages living cells is still not clear. It was reported earlier that net protein synthesis of Pseudomonas saccharophila which was exposed to one atmosphere of oxygen for 4 h was approximately 40 per cent of that in cells which were exposed to air². I report here a different approach to the study of oxygen toxicity, that is, an investigation of the relationship between the transport and the incorporation of amino-acids, and net synthesis of protein at high oxygen tension.