ISOLATION AND PROPERTIES OF SELENOMETHIONINE-RESISTANT MUTANTS OF NEUROSPORA CRASSA

Abstract

ABSTRACT Mutants resistant to selenomethionine were isolated, and their properties studied. Mapping studies indicate that the mutation sites are located near the eth-1r locus in linkage group I, about ten map units away from the mating type locus. The sites of new mutation are either allelic to or very close to eth-1r. They are resistant not only to selenomethionine but also to ethionine, while the ethionine-resistant mutant, eth-1r, is sensitive to selenomethionine. The selenomethionine-resistant mutants are also temperature-sensitive mutants. However, they can grow at higher temperatures in medium containing 1 M glycerol.—It is very unlikely that the resistance is due to a change in the permeability of the membrane. Aryl sulfatase of se-metr mutants is not repressed by a high concentration of methionine (5 mM), although inorganic sulfate (2 mM) still can cause total repression. The γ-cystathionase levels of the mutants are normal, but the S-adenosylmethionine synthetase levels are only one-tenth of that observed in the wild-type strain. The heat-stability of this enzyme in the mutant is also different from that of the wild-type enzyme suggesting that the mutation might affect the structural gene of S-adenosylmethionine synthetase.