Levels of true thymidine kinase and nucleoside phosphotransferase in two strains of Tetrahymena pyriformis under different growth conditions

Abstract

1. 1. Activities of typical thymidine kinase and nucleoside phosphotransferase are both present in logarithmically growing Tetrahymena pyriformis GL-1 and ST strains, contrary to previous reports. 2. 2. Activities of thymidine kinase and nucleoside phosphotransferase are also found in both GL-1 and ST strains grown in the defined medium, PPL medium and Neff's medium. 3. 3. The specific activities of both enzymes are very much influenced by the growth state. Both the specific activities of thymidine kinase and nucleoside phosphotransferase decrease steadily from the start of the experiments when the cell numbers were about 2–3 × 10 4 cells/ml in the PPL medium, while in the Neff's medium, the specific activities of thymidine kinase increase up to when the cell numbers reached 3–5 × 10 5 cells/ml and then decreased, but the specific activities of nucleoside phosphotransferase continuously decreased when the cell concentrations were 2–6 × 10 4 cells/ml . 4. 4. In the PPL medium, the final cell numbers reached are about 6.5 × 10 5 cells/ml , while in the Neff's medium, the cell numbers increase further (to about 2 × 10 6 cells/ml ). 5. 5. No striking difference in activities of thymidine kinase and nucleoside phosphotransferase was observed when the cells were transfered from the defined medium to the Neff's medium, contrary to that reported by others for the activity of thymidylate synthetase.