Genetics and biochemistry of 5-Bromodeoxyuridine resistance inPhysarum polycephalum

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Abstract
SUMMARY: 5-Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU)-resistant mutants ofPhysarum polycephalumwere isolated as colonies of myxamoebae growing on BrdU-substituted bacteria after exposure to long-wave ultraviolet light (UV). Twenty-four such mutants were studied. They all show Mendelian segregation in crosses with wild type. Plasmodia constructed from mutant amoebae were all deficient in deoxythymidine incorporation. Extracts made from selected plasmodia showed that all except one had low thymidine kinase activity.Genetical and biochemical complementation studies revealed two complementation groups: 23 mutants,burA, had low thymidine kinase while 1 mutant,burB, had normal thymidine kinase levels.