Regulation of ribosome function following bacteriophage T4 infection

Abstract

The rate of translation in bacteriophage T4-infected Escherichia coli has been studied. It was observed that at about ten minutes after infection at 37 °C the rate of protein synthesis declines to 40 to 50% of the rate observed during the first ten minutes, yet all cells remain intact for at least 60 minutes. This drop in the rate of general protein synthesis is correlated with a change in the ability of initiation factor-free ribosomes to translate both global T4 messenger RNAs and a specific T4 messenger, deoxynucleotide kinase (EC 2.7.4.4) mRNA. The alteration in ribosome function begins between five and ten minutes after infection and minimum ribosome activity is reached at approximately 20 minutes after infection. A late T4 gene is involved, as shown by the fact that the alteration in ribosome function is not observed in amB1292-infected cells (i.e. cells which synthesize early but not late T4 mRNAs).