Phenethyl Alcohol. I. Effect on Macromolecular Synthesis of Escherichia Coli.

Rosenkranz, Herbert S. (Columbia University, New York, N.Y.), Howard S. Carr, and Harry M. Rose. Phenethyl alcohol. I. Effect on macromolecular synthesis of Escherichia coli. J. Bacteriol. 89:1354-1369. 1965.-An investigation of the mode of action of phenethyl alcohol produced the following results. Phenethyl alcohol had no effect on the physicochemical properties of isolated deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). The DNA isolated from phenethyl alcohol-treated bacteria had physicochemical properties identical with those of DNA isolated from normal cells. The metabolic functions most sensitive to the inhibitory action of phenethyl alcohol appeared to be the process of enzyme induction and, possibly, the synthesis of messenger ribonucleic acid. Phenethyl alcohol did not affect the polyuridylic acid-mediated synthesis of polyphenylalanine in a cell-free amino acid-incorporating system.