A study has been made of the distribution and properties of the free amino acid pool in yeast. The depletion of the pool was found to depend upon the energy source used, conditions of growth, and the nature of the exogenous nitrogen source. Pool levels could be restored either by an internal replenishment mechanism or by various nitrogen sources. In the absence of internal replenishment a strong positive correlation was established between the ability of nitrogen compounds to support free glutamic add synthesis and enzyme-synthesizing capacity. Amino acid assimilation by nitrogen-starved yeast was studied and compared with that in other organisms. The significance of these results for the problem of enzyme and protein synthesis in yeast is discussed.

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Copyright, 1955, by The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research
1955