Thymineless death and ultraviolet sensitivity in Micrococcus radiodurans.

Thymine-requiring mutants of Micrococcus radiodurans have been isolated by selection on solid medium containing trimethoprim. Strains requiring either high concentrations of thymine (50 mug/ml) or low concentrations (2 mug/ml) for normal growth were obtained. The Thy(-) mutant requiring low thymine concentrations has been characterized. It was shown to retain the high ultraviolet light (UV) resistance typical of wild-type M. radiodurans, but it was not resistant to thymineless death. Preliminary exposure of the cells to thymineless conditions resulted in enhanced UV sensitivity, and this interaction occurred under conditions where "unbalanced growth" was inhibited by the addition of chloramphenicol. Upon addition of thymine to deprived cells, UV resistance was gradually restored, and this recovery took place in the absence of protein synthesis. A model is proposed to account for the similarity of thymineless death in bacteria whose deoxyribonucleic acid repair efficiencies differ widely.