scholarly journals Interrelationships in trace-element metabolism in metal toxicities in nickel-resistant strains of Neurospora crassa

1983 ◽  
Vol 212 (1) ◽  
pp. 205-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Maruthi Mohan ◽  
K Sivarama Sastry

Three different Ni2+-resistant strains of Neurospora crassa (NiR1, NiR2 and NiR3) have been isolated. All are stable mutants and are fourfold more resistant to Ni2+ than the parent wild-type strain. NiR1 and NiR2 are also sixfold more resistant to Co2+, whereas NiR3 is only twice as resistant to Co2+; the former two are also twofold more resistant to Zn2+, but NiR3 is not. These three strains also differ in sensitivity to Cu2+. Toxicities and concomitant accumulation patterns of Ni2+, Co2+ and Cu2+ have been examined in these strains. NiR1 and NiR2, despite quantitative individual differences, generally accumulate very high amounts of Ni2+ and Co2+, and Mg2+ reverses the toxicities of these two ions by different mechanisms; Ni2+ uptake is suppressed, but not that of Co2+. In NiR3, Mg2+ controls uptake of both Ni2+ and Co2+. Studies indicate that two kinds of Ni2+-resistant strains of N. crassa exist; one kind is resistant because it can tolerate high intracellular concentrations of heavy-metal ions, whereas the other is resistant because it can control metal-ion accumulation.

1987 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. 3168-3177
Author(s):  
M G Schechtman

The most distal known gene on Neurospora crassa linkage group VR, his-6, was cloned. A genomic walk resulted in isolation of the telomere at VR. It was obtained from a library in which the endmost nucleotides of the chromosome had not been removed by nuclease treatment before being cloned, and mapping indicates that the entire chromosome end has probably been cloned. Sequences homologous to the terminal 2.5 kilobases of DNA from VR from these Oak Ridge N. crassa strains are found at other sites in the genome. To characterize these sites, I crossed an Oak Ridge-derived his-6 strain with a wild-type strain of different genetic background (Mauriceville) and characterized the hybridization patterns seen in the progeny. It appears that the sequences homologous to the VR terminus are found at genetically different sites in the two parental strains, and no hybridization to the VR telomere from Mauriceville was detected. The other genomic copies identified in the Oak Ridge parent were not telomeres. I suggest that any repeating sequence blocks found immediately adjacent to the VR terminus in Oak Ridge strains must be small and that the repeating element identified in that background may be an N. crassa transposable element integrated near the the chromosome end at VR.


1987 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. 3168-3177 ◽  
Author(s):  
M G Schechtman

The most distal known gene on Neurospora crassa linkage group VR, his-6, was cloned. A genomic walk resulted in isolation of the telomere at VR. It was obtained from a library in which the endmost nucleotides of the chromosome had not been removed by nuclease treatment before being cloned, and mapping indicates that the entire chromosome end has probably been cloned. Sequences homologous to the terminal 2.5 kilobases of DNA from VR from these Oak Ridge N. crassa strains are found at other sites in the genome. To characterize these sites, I crossed an Oak Ridge-derived his-6 strain with a wild-type strain of different genetic background (Mauriceville) and characterized the hybridization patterns seen in the progeny. It appears that the sequences homologous to the VR terminus are found at genetically different sites in the two parental strains, and no hybridization to the VR telomere from Mauriceville was detected. The other genomic copies identified in the Oak Ridge parent were not telomeres. I suggest that any repeating sequence blocks found immediately adjacent to the VR terminus in Oak Ridge strains must be small and that the repeating element identified in that background may be an N. crassa transposable element integrated near the the chromosome end at VR.


Genetics ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 146 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kiyoshi Onai ◽  
Hideaki Nakashima

Ten cysteine auxotrophs of Neurospora crassa were examined with regard to the period lengths of their circadian conidiation rhythms. One of the these cysteine auxotrophs, cys-9, showed dramatic changes in the circadian conidiation rhythm. At 10 μm methionine, the cys-9 mutant had a period length that was 5 hr shorter than that of the wild-type strain during the first 3 days after transfer to continuous darkness. At this concentration of methionine, the period length was unstable after the fourth day and varied widely from 11 to 31 hr. In contrast, other cysteine auxotrophs did not show such instability of the period length at any of the concentrations of methionine tested. Furthermore, only the cys-9 mutant exhibited partial loss of the capacity for temperature compensation of the period length. With regard to cold-induced phase-shifting of the circadian conidiation rhythm, the cys-9 mutant was more sensitive than the wild-type strain to low temperature. The cys-9  + gene was cloned and was found to encode NADPH-dependent thioredoxin reductase. These results indicate that mutation of the gene for thioredoxin reductase results in abnormal expression of the circadian conidiation rhythm in N. crassa.


1982 ◽  
Vol 152 (2) ◽  
pp. 676-681
Author(s):  
J P Simon ◽  
V Stalon

Streptococcus faecalis ATCC 11700 uses agmatine as its sole energy source for growth. Agmatine deiminase and putrescine carbamoyltransferase are coinduced by growth on agmatine. Glucose and arginine were found to exert catabolite repression on the agmatine deiminase pathway. Four mutants unable to utilize agmatine as an energy source, isolated from the wild-type strain, exhibited three distinct phenotypes. Two of these strains showed essentially no agmatine deiminase, one mutant showed negligible activity of putrescine carbamoyltransferase, and one mutant was defective in both activities. Two carbamate kinases are present in S. faecalis, one belonging to the arginine deiminase pathway, the other being induced by growth on agmatine. These two enzymes have the same molecular weight, 82,000, and seem quite different in size from the kinases isolated from other streptococci.


1973 ◽  
Vol 136 (3) ◽  
pp. 749-755 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jasti Nirmala ◽  
Killampalli Sivarama Sastry

The wild-type strain of Neurospora crassa Em 5297a can utilize allantoin as a sole nitrogen source. The pathway of allantoin utilization is via its conversion into allantoic acid and urea, followed by the breakdown of urea to ammonia. This is shown by the inability of the urease-less mutant, N. crassa 1229, to grow on allantoin as a sole nitrogen source and by the formation of allantoate and urea by pre-formed mycelia of this mutant. In the wild strain (Em 5297a) thiourea is tenfold more toxic on an allantoin medium than on an inorganic nitrogen medium; allantoin as well as urea counteract thiourea toxicity in the allantoin nitrogen medium. This selective toxicity of thiourea for the mould utilizing allantoin nitrogen does not, however, result in an impairment of allantoin uptake, allantoinase activity or the formation of urea from allantoin. The only process affected by thiourea is the synthesis of urease; urea antagonizes this effect of thiourea in N. crassa.


1983 ◽  
Vol 29 (9) ◽  
pp. 1126-1135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia A. Vistica ◽  
Blaine L. Beaman

The pathogenicities in mice (comparing LD50 determinations) of two mutant strains and one wild-type strain of Nocardia asteroides GUH-2, each possessing a colonial morphology distinct from the other, were compared at respective stages of growth. Despite the three strains' colinear growth curves and similar physiological properties, unique patterns of pathogenicity emerged for each strain upon analysis. Ultrastructural and fatty acid profiles of cultures at the various growth stages were monitored. The mutant strain SCII-A1 was consistently less virulent than the other strains N. asteroides GUH-2 (SCII-P and SCII-C). Further, its fatty acid profiles as well as the shape and consistency of its colonies differed greatly from those of the wild-type strain. The fatty acid composition and the colonial morphology of strain SCII-C more closely resembled those of the parent, although its virulence was both greater than (before 28 h of growth) and less than the parent's depending upon the specific stage of growth. The comparative degrees of cellular fragmentation and complexity, as determined by scanning and transmission electron microscopy, were found to coincide with changes in relative degrees of pathogenicity.


1976 ◽  
Vol 160 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Cannon ◽  
A Jimenez ◽  
D Vazquez

1. Of the five sesquiterpene antibiotics tested and found to inhibit protein synthesis in yeast spheroplasts, trichothecin, trichodermol or trichodermin stabilized polyribosomes whereas, in contrast, verrucarin A or T-2 toxin induced ‘run off’ of polyribosomes with a corresponding increase in 80S monoribosomes. The effect of fusarenon X on the system could not be determined as the drug failed to enter the cells. 2. [acetyl-14C]Trichodermin bound to yeast polyribosomes with a dissociation constant of 2.10 muM and to yeast ‘run off’ ribosomes with a dissociation constant of 0.72 muM. 3. Trichothecin, trichodermol, fusarenon X, T-2 toxin and verrucarin A competed with [acetyl-14C]trichodermin for binding to its receptor site on ‘run off’ ribosomes. The observed competition was quantitatively similar for all drugs tested. In contrast, the five drugs competed to different extents with trichodermin for binding to its receptor site on polyribosomes. Thus trichothecin competed with relative efficiency, whereas verrucarin A competed poorly, and the other drugs occupied intermediate positions between these two extremes. 4. Studies were also carried out with yeast ‘run off’ ribosomes prepared from both a wild-type strain and a strain resistant to trichodermin. Competition experiments between verrucarin A and [3H]anisomycin indicated that verrucarin A bound to ‘run off’ ribosomes from the mutant strain less efficiently than to those from the wild-type.


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