Kinetic Analysis of the Early Events in Induced Enzyme Synthesis

Following the finding by Pardee and Prestidge (1961, The Initial Kinetics of Enzyme Induction, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 49: 77) and by Boezi and Cowie (1961, Kinetic Studies of β-galactosidase Induction, Biophys. J. 1: 639–647), that induced enzyme appears only after a lag of about 3 min after addition of an inducer and that a similar delay elapses after withdrawal of the inducer before enzyme synthesis ceases, the early kinetics of induced β-galactosidase synthesis by E. coli has been reinvestigated (Kepes, A. 1963, Kinetics of Induced Enzyme Synthesis; Determination of the Mean Life of β-galactosidase-specific messenger RNA, Biophys. Biochim. Acta, in press).