Relationship Between the Axenic Phenotype and Sensitivity to -Aminocarboxylic Acids in Dictyostelium discoideum

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Abstract
A previous suggestion that sensitivity to .omega.-aminocarboxylic acids in D. discoideum is associated with the ability to grow axenically was re-evaluated using new axenic strains and axenic derivatives of strain AX3 recombinant for linkage group II. It is now shown that the major gene for .omega.-aminocarboxylic acid sensitivity, designated oaaA, is not allelic to previously described axenic loci axeA and axeB, but that oaaA is closely linked to, or allelic with a third axenic gene axeC found in strains AX2 and AX3. The axeC phenotype is rapid growth in axenic medium. The oaaA locus is located on linkage group II. Genetic evidence suggests that the strains AX2 and AX3 now in existence share a common genetic background and may not represent independent isolates from the wild-type strain NC4. Studies with 14C-labelled .epsilon.-aminocaproic acid show that sensitivity to .omega.-aminocarboxylic acids is correlated with increased myxamoebal permeability to these compounds.