Temporal studies of factors associated with changes in transcription during Q fever.

Temporal studies were made of factors associated with increased RNA synthesis in guinea pig liver during Q fever. DNA-dependent RNA polymerase activities increased immediately after infection. The major distribution of RNA polymerase classes shifted from class II to class I during infection. Ornithine decarboxylase activity was induced or stimulated soon after infection and remained elevated throughout the four-day period studied. S-Adenosylmethionine decarboxylase activity increased on the first day after infection and subsequently declined. Concomitantly elevated concentrations of the polyamines putrescine, spermidine and spermine reached a maximum on the first day after infection and then decreased. A model is presented to integrate these and other results to explain how RNA synthesis may be regulated during infection.