Glucose-transport-deficient mutants of Schizosaccharomyces pombe: phenotype, genetics and use for genetic complementation

Glucose-transport-deficient mutants of Schizosaccharomyces pombe were obtained by treatment of wild-type cells (972h-) with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N- nitrosoguanidine, and by selection of resulting mutants on gluconate medium containing 0.05% 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2DG). One mutant, designated YGS-B22, was unable to grow on D-glucose and/or D-fructose as a carbon source (Glc/Fru-), and was resistant to 2DG; hence, none of the three sugars was taken up by the mutant cells. The hexokinase activity in the wild-type and the mutant cells was equal. Genetic purification of YGS-B22 by back-crossing with a leucine-auxotrophic mutant and the wild-type resulted in two strains: YGS-4, with reduced 2DG resistance, and YGS-5, which had lost 2DG-resistance. YGS-5 grew in D-glucose-containing media, albeit very slowly. No measurable sugar uptake was detectable in either of the two mutants within the 1 h test interval. Tetrad analyses proved a Mendelian segregation of growth on D-glucose and leucine auxotrophy. However, 2DG resistance did not co-segregate with the Glc/Fru- phenotype, indicating that the transport deficiency and 2DG resistance characters are not encoded on the same genomic locus. Using a genomic bank of Sch. pombe, two transformants, YGS-5-G7 and YGS-5-G12, were found which had regained the wild-type growth and transport phenotype by complementation. Correspondingly, both D-glucose uptake and 2DG accumulation were restored in the transformed strains.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)