Open AccessDeath rates of bacterial mutants
Author(s) -
Jörgensen F.,
Kurland C.G.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1987.tb01979.x
Subject(s) - bacteria , mutant , escherichia coli , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , ribosome , chemistry , gene , genetics , rna
We have studied the death rates of mutant and wild‐type strains of Escherichia coli by two methods. One method involves microscopic estimations of the ability of bacteria to form microcolonies. The other method involves estimates of the numbers of bacteria permeable to a fluorescent dye. The results of both methods suggest that of the order of 0.1–0.3% of bacteria in an exponentially growing culture are dead according to the present criteria. When the death rates are compared with those for mutant bacteria with hyperaccurate or with error‐prone ribosomes, no significant differences are observed. The results suggest that there is little or no relationship between death rate and the accuracy of gene expression in E. coli .