POLYPHOSPHATE ACCUMULATION AND UTILIZATION AS RELATED TO SYNCHRONIZED CELL DIVISION OF CORYNEBACTERIUM DIPHTHERIAE

Abstract

Polyphosphate is found by cytochemical and microchemical procedures to increase and decrease in relation to the cyclic division of synchronized dividing cells of C. diphtheriae. The peaks of polyphosphate accumulation are found immediately before the periods of increasing cell numbers; minimal amounts of polyphosphate are found at the ends of the recurrent periods of cell division. Increments of DNA are found to occur between the periods of cell division. Total, RNA, acid soluble, and acid insoluble phosphorus showed a less clear relationship to the cycle of cell division. Accumulation and disappearance of polyphosphate are, then, physiological events related to cell division; these findings support the interpretation of polyphosphate as phosphagen.