SOMATIC SEGREGATION, RECOMBINATION, ASYMMETRICAL DISTRIBUTION AND COMPLEMENTATION TESTS OF CYTOPLASMICALLY-INHERITED ANTIBIOTIC-RESISTANCE MITOCHONDRIAL MARKERS IN S. CEREVISIAE

G. H. Rank ¹ and N. T. Bech-Hansen ¹

¹ Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Genetic analyses of 48-hr-old zygote-daughter-colony cells from crosses between chloramphenicol and erythromycin resistance markers located in mitochondrial DNA demonstrated homoplasmons of parental and recombinant genotypes, and heteroplasmons with recombinant and/or parental genotypes. Although the heteroplasmons were unstable and the homoplasmic components could be segregated by plating on selective media, the heteroplasmic state was often maintained beyond 19 cell divisions when grown on non-selective medium. Homoplasmons of recombinant genotype from repulsion crosses were observed with a frequency of 7.2, 9.0, 11.2 and 11.4 percent; two crosses with the resistance markers in coupling had 5.4 and 11.5 percent recombinants. Under non-selective conditions, the mitochondrial marker derived from the haploid parent of a mating type predominated in zygote-daughter-cells; this asymmetrical distribution could be reversed by selective pressure for the marker transmitted with low frequency. The challenge with chloramphenicol and erythromycin of zygotes from crosses of resistance-markers in repulsion revealed that inter-mitochondrial complementation was not occurring.

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