Effect of p-fluorophenylalanine on radiation sensitivity in Escherichia coli
An increase in the number of survivors, after γ-irradiation in the "physiological" dose range, is obtained when cultures of Escherichia coli, wild type, are grown in the presence of p-fluorophenylalanine (FPA). In contrast to this result, exposure to FPA sensitizes cells of the radiation-resistant mutant, E. coli 6γ, to γ-irradiation. The addition of FPA to a logarithmically growing culture of E. coli wild type reduces the rate of protein synthesis relative to DNA synthesis whereas, in E. coli 6γ, protein synthesis is less sensitive to FPA-inhibition than is deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesis. The results are explained by assuming that augmented radioresistance in FPA-exposed cultures of E. coli wild type reflects accumulation of cells that have terminated one round of DNA replication and not initiated a new one, analogous to the effects of amino acid starvation in bacterial cells. FPA is suggested not to act in this way in E. coli 6γ.