Pool sizes of metabolic intermediates and their relation to glucose repression of beta-galactosidase synthesis in Escherichia coli

1. The intermediary metabolism of two strains of Escherichia coli has been examined. One strain (Q22) exhibits acute transient repression of beta-galactosidase synthesis when glucose is supplied to cells growing on glycerol; the other strain (W3110) does not. The two strains do not differ genetically in their lac operons. 2. Strain Q22 uses about twice as much glucose as strain W3110 per unit of cell mass produced. 3. Pentose phosphate-cycle activity in the presence of glucose is much stronger in strain Q22 than in strain W3110. 4. In strain Q22 the pool sizes of glucose 6-phosphate, 6-phosphogluconate, fructose 1,6-diphosphate and NADPH increase when glucose is added to cells growing on glycerol, and beta-galactosidase synthesis is severely inhibited. After about 1hr. the synthesis of beta-galactosidase is partly resumed, and the pool sizes of the four compounds fall. ATP, NADH and several other phosphorylated compounds show no concentration changes. 5. These concentration changes do not occur in strain W3110, in which beta-galactosidase synthesis is only rather weakly repressed by glucose. 6. It is suggested that repression of enzyme synthesis by glucose requires the rapid operation of the pentose phosphate cycle, and is mediated by one of the four substances whose concentration rises and later falls in strain Q22. A definite choice of effector from among these four possibilities cannot at present be made.