Life Sciences Commons^™

Intracellular Protein Degradation In A Mesophile And A Thermophile Of The Genus Bacillus, Cameron C. Hoover

Masters Theses

¹⁴C-leucine was incorporated into th e proteins of the mesophile Bacillus licheniformis and the thermophile Bacillus stearothermophilus. Aliquots of the cell suspension were treated with chloramine-T in order to decarboxylate the ¹⁴C-leucine that was released as the proteins degraded. The ¹⁴CO₂ was trapped and counted. This allowed for the determination of the extent of intracellular protein degradation at various tem peratures and at various stages of the growth cun/e. For the mesophile, the extent of degradation increased with temperature from 30° C to 55° C. For the thermophile, no significant amount of degradation occurred until …