A Survey of Effects of Chemicals on Division and Growth of Yeast and Escherichia Coli

EFFECT OF CELL DIVISION INHIBITION ON THE PHOSPHORUS METABOLISM OF GROWING CULTURES OF SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE

“…It is not surprising that the RNA-phosphorus and lipid-phosphorus fractions are found to be constant in these cell division inhibited cells. It has been shown by Spoerl and Balske (1953);Spoerl et al (1954); and Loveless et al (1954); as well as from our own experiments, that cell division inhibition may be produced with little or no loss in culture mass. Therefore, if RNAphosphorus is functionally related to protein synthesis and lipid-phosphorus a measure of fat metabolism, one would expect to find no changes under the experimental conditions as outlined above.…”

“…Radiation and certain organic chemicals, under appropriate experimental conditions, may selectively inhibit cell division but not growth of cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae which are in the logarithmic stages of both growth and division (Lea et al, 1937;Spoerl et al, 1954;Loveless et al, 1954). The inhibition of cell division (multiplication) without a concommitant inhibition of growth (total culture mass) results in the formation of paired, enlarged yeast cells.…”

Yeasts

“…Spoerl et al (1954) showed that S. cerevisiae exposed to a-irradiation, x-irradiation or -y-irradiation stopped reproducing new cells, but the existing cells kept on growing, forming large cells. Loveless et al (1954) reported similar effect when he exposed the same organism to special chemicals, "mitotic inhibitors", as methyl-bis-(betachloroethyl) amine or triethylenemelamine. He contributes the inhibition of cell reproduction to the formation of carbonium ions.…”

Mechanism for the Regulation of Cell Division inAgmenellum

“…The ease with which cell division can be dissociated from growth by various treatments producing serpentine forms (17,26) and the apparent ease with which nonlethal, temperature-conditional cell-division mutants are obtained (12,41) demonstrate that the factor(s) controlling cell division are not obligate requirements for growth. Thus synthesis of the factor(s) controlling cell division and growth may be considered to some degree as separate processes.…”