Abstract
Thermosensitive dnaJ mutants of Escherichia coli K-12 were studied with respect to their growth, nucleic acid synthesis and viability at the nonpermissive condition. Growth of the mutants was inhibited after the temperature shift, but not so severely as seen previously in the dnaK mutants. In the dnaJ mutants, both DNA and RNA syntheses were inhibited, suggesting that the conditionally defective dnaJ mutations affect both cellular DNA and RNA syntheses at the nonpermissive temperature in addition to their effects on propagation of phage lambda at the permissive temperature. DNA and RNA synthesized in the mutants at 30°C did not degrade appreciably for at least 6 hours at the nonpermissive temperature.
