Abstract
RNA synthesis in an asporogenous mutant of Bacillus subtilis, which seemed to be an early sporulating mutant, was investigated. This mutant failed to synthesize spore-specific RNA during the stationary phase, but induction of histidase, which appears to represent the transcription of vegetative genes, occurred even during the stationary phase, when no significant induction of the enzyme was observed in the sporogenous strain. From these results, it was speculated that RNA polymerase transcribing sporulating genes was different from RNA polymerase transcribing vegetative genes, and the former type of RNA polymerase did not function in this asporogenous mutant.
