Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Isoleucine-requiring Nicotiana plant deficient in threonine deaminase

Abstract

Well characterized auxotrophic mutants would greatly assist the genetic manipulation of flowering plants, but such mutants are rare1–3. Moreover, auxotrophic mutants isolated at the plant level4–8 and some of those isolated in cell cultures9 are leaky. The isolation of the first non-leaky auxotrophic mutant, requiring a source of nitrogen in reduced form, was possible by direct selection for chlorate resistance of this rare mutant type10. A different approach, the individual testing of colonies grown from mutagenized haploid cells of Datura11 and Hyoscyam us12, has resulted in cell lines with absolute nutritional requirement. We report here the isolation of an isoleucine-requiring line from haploid cell cultures of Nicotiana plumbaginifolia and the regeneration of diploid plants. These plants have no detectable activity of L-threonine deaminase (EC 4.2.1.16), the first enzyme in isoleucine biosynthesis.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Widholm, J. M. in Plant Tissue Culture and its Biotechnological Application (eds Barz, W., Reinhard, E. & Zenk, M. H.) 112–122 (Springer, Berlin, 1977).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  2. Schieder, O. in Frontiers of Plant Tissue Culture (ed. Thorpe, T. A.) 393–401 (University of Calgary Offset Printing Service, 1978).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Maliga, P. Int. Rev. Cytol. Suppl. 11A, 225–250 (1980).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Rédei, G. P. A. Rev. Genet. 9, 111–127 (1975).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Oostindier-Braaksma, F. J. & Feenstra, W. J. Mutat. Res. 19, 175–185 (1973).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Gavazzi, G., Nava-Racchi, M. & Tonelli, C. Theor. appl. Genet. 46, 339–345 (1975).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Warner, R. L., Lin, C. J. & Kleinhofs, A. Nature 269, 406–407 (1977).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Feenstra, W. J. & Jacobson, E. Theor. appl. Genet. 58, 39–42 (1980).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Carlson, P. S. Science 168, 487–489 (1970).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Müller, A. & Grafe, R. Molec. gen. Genet. 161, 67–76 (1978).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Savage, A. D., King, J. & Gamborg, O. L. Pl. Sci. Lett. 16, 367–376 (1979).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Gebhard, C., Schnebli, V. & King, P. Planta (in the press).

  13. Holliday, R. Nature 178, 987 (1956).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Bayliss, M. W. Int. Rev. Cytol. Suppl. 11 A, 113–144 (1980).

    Google Scholar 

  15. Umbarger, H. E. A. Rev. Biochem. 47, 533–606 (1978).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Miflin, B. J. & Lea, P. J. A. Rev. Pl. Physiol. 28, 299–329 (1977).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Dougall, D. K. Phytochemistry 9, 959–964 (1970).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Sharma, R. K. & Mazumder, R. J. biol. Chem. 245, 3008–3014 (1970).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Umbarger, H. E., McElroy, W. D. & Glass, H. B. Amino Acid Metabolism (Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1956).

    Google Scholar 

  20. Miflin, B. J. & Cave, P. R. J. exp. Botany 23, 511–516 (1972).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Medgyesy, P., Menczel, L. & Maliga, P. Molec. gen. Genet. 179, 693–698 (1980).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Sidorov, V., Menczel, L., Nagy, F. & Maliga, P. Planta 152, 341–345 (1981).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Nagy, J. I. & Maliga, P. Z. Pflanzenphysiol. 78, 453–455 (1976).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Linsmaier, E. M. & Skoog, F. Physiologia Pl. 18, 100–127 (1965).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Friedemann, T. E. & Haugen, E. G. J. biol. Chem. 147, 415–443 (1943).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sidorov, V., Menczel, L. & Maliga, P. Isoleucine-requiring Nicotiana plant deficient in threonine deaminase. Nature 294, 87–88 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/294087a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/294087a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing