5-Fluorouracil-resistant strain of Methanobacterium thermoautortrophicum
Growth of Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum Marburg is inhibited by the pyrimidine, 5-fluorouracil (FU). It was shown previously that methanogenesis is not inhibited to the same extent as growth. A spontaneously occurring FU-resistant strain (RTAE-1) was isolated from a culture of strain Marburg. The growth of both strains was inhibited by 5-fluorodeoxyuridine but not 5-fluorocytosine, and the wild type was more susceptible to inhibition by 5-azauracil and 6-azauracil than was strain RTAE-1. The cellular targets for the pyrimidine analogs are not known. When the accumulation of /sup 14/C-labeled uracil or FU by the two strains was compared, the wilt type took up 15-fold more radiolabel per cell than did the FU-resistant strain. In the wild type, radiolabel from uracil was incorporated into the soluble pool, RNA, and DNA. The metabolism of uracil appeared to involve a uracil phosphoribosyltransferase activity. Strain Marburg extracts contained this enzyme, whereas FU-resistant strain RTAE-1 extracts had less than 1/10 as much activity. Although it is possible that a change in permeability to the compounds plays a role in the stable resistance of strain RTAE-1, the fact that it lacks the ability to metabolize pyrimidines to nucleotides is sufficient to account for its phenotype.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman
- OSTI ID:
- 6066736
- Journal Information:
- J. Bacteriol.; (United States), Vol. 169:9
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
FLUOROURACILS
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
METHANOGENIC BACTERIA
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
SPONTANEOUS MUTATIONS
BIOSYNTHESIS
CARBON 14 COMPOUNDS
DNA
ENZYME ACTIVITY
GROWTH
INHIBITION
METABOLISM
METHANE
PHENOTYPE
PHOSPHOTRANSFERASES
RNA
SENSITIVITY
TRACER TECHNIQUES
ALKANES
ANTIMETABOLITES
AZINES
BACTERIA
DRUGS
ENZYMES
HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS
HYDROCARBONS
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
LABELLED COMPOUNDS
MICROORGANISMS
MUTATIONS
NUCLEIC ACIDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC FLUORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
PHOSPHORUS-GROUP TRANSFERASES
PYRIMIDINES
SYNTHESIS
TRANSFERASES
URACILS
550701* - Microbiology- Tracer Techniques