1. When Tetrahymena were deprived of nutrients 50% of the polysomes disaggregated within 20 min and 20% of the total RNA broke down in 2 h. Ribosomal RNA accounted for 75% of the RNA breakdown. 2. RNA labelled by a long incubation with [14C]uridine was stable in growing cells and in the presence of actinomycin D, but broke down at the same rate as bulk RNA in starved cells. 3. The following substances inhibited the loss of RNA during starvation: cycloheximide (which inhibited both polysome disaggregation and protein synthesis), inhibitors of energy metabolism and puromycin (all of which caused polysome disaggregation and inhibited protein synthesis), and chloroquine and 7-amino-1-chloro-3-L-tosylamidoheptan-2-one (‘TLCK’) (neither of which affected polysomes or protein synthesis). 4. Starvation appears to activate a ribosome degradation mechanism that may involve lysosomal and non-lysosomal enzymes.
