Complete absence of mitochondrial DNA in the petite-negative yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe leads to resistance towards the alkaloid lycorine.
The petite-positive yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae can be efficiently and completely converted to respiratory-deficient cytoplasmic petite mutants by intercalating drugs. Rho0 petites from Schizosaccharomyces pombe could only be obtained in strains carrying a nuclear mutation. In this paper we report the efficient isolation of rho0 mutants in a Sch. pombe strain containing a mitochondrial mutator mutation. We also show that the alkaloid lycorine is able to differentiate between cells containing defective mitochondrial DNA (mit-) and those lacking mitochondrial DNA completely (rho0). Rho0 cells are resistant to the alkaloid whereas mit- and wild-type cells show the same sensitivity.
Massardo
D R
DR
Istituto Internazionale di Genetica e Biofisica, Napoli, Italy.
Manna
F
F
Schäfer
B
B
Wolf
K
K
Del Giudice
L
L
D047151:Amaryllidaceae Alkaloids; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics*; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial / Q000235:genetics; D009154:Mutation; D010617:Phenanthridines / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012568:Schizosaccharomyces / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017384:Sequence Deletion
D047151:Amaryllidaceae Alkaloids; D004271:DNA, Fungal; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D010617:Phenanthridines; C015330:lycorine