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Map and function of gad mutations in Physarum polycephalum*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 April 2009

T. M. Shinnick ,
R. W. Anderson  and
C. E. Holt
T. M. Shinnick
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. 02139
R. W. Anderson
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. 02139
C. E. Holt
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. 02139
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Summary

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Amoebae and plasmodia are alternate vegetative forms in the life cycle of the acellular slime mould Physarum polycephalum. Haploid amoebae carrying heterothallic alleles of the matA (or mt) locus ordinarily form plasmodia only by crossing, but occasionally give rise to mutants that form plasmodia by selfing as well as by crossing. Twelve independently isolated mutants of this type have been studied. Eight carry mutations (termed gad or greater asexual differentiation mutations) within approximately 0·2 map units of matA. Another mutation (gad-12) is linked neither to matA nor to any of 9 other markers tested. The remaining three mutations are linked to matA and map as follows: matA–0·5 units – gad-4–4 units – gad-6 – 8 units – gad-11. One mutation, gad-11, has been tested in strains carrying each of the five matA alleles (matAl, 2, 3, 4, and h) available in a common genetic background; the mutation is expressed with all five alleles. The mutation npfF1 (formerly aptA1), which was isolated as a suppressor of selfing in Colonia (matAh) amoebae, suppresses the action of each of the 12 gad mutations. The similarly isolated mutation npfA1 is also epistatic to eight of the mutations, but permits selfing with gad-5, 6, 12 and 13. For double mutant strains containing gad-12 and gad-1, 2, 4, 6 or 11, the selfing behaviour of each double mutant differs from that of either single mutant. Mixtures of gad−npfF1 with gad+npf+ amoebae readily form plasmodia, a result suggesting that gad mutations are dominant or semi-dominant. We conclude that the commitment of a cell to differentiate into a plasmodium is under the control of a complex group of genes linked to matA.

Type
Research Article
Information
Genetics Research , Volume 42 , Issue 1 , August 1983 , pp. 41 - 57
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1983

References

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