5-Fluoropyrimidine-resistant mutants of pneumococcus.

Three classes of 5-fluorpyrimidine-resistant mutants of Diplococcus pneumoniae have been characterized. The mutant strain upp is resistant to high concentrations of the fluoropyrimidine bases fluorouracil (FU) and fluorocytosine (FC); strain upp has a defective uridine monophosphate pyrophosphorylase. The mutant strain udk is resistant to inhibition by fluorouridine (FUR) and exhibits defective uridine kinase activity. The mutant strain fun is resistant to inhibition by the nucleosides fluorodeoxyuridine, fluorodeoxycytidine, and FUR, but shows normal activity for all pyrimidine pathway enzymes tested. This strain may be defective in the activity of a transport system that governs the cellular uptake of pyrimidine ribo- and deoxyribonucleosides. Biochemical studies on wild-type and fluoropyrimidine-resistant pneumococci are discussed with respect to the transport and early metabolism of preformed pyrimidine precursors by this organism.