Isolation of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant strain deficient in deoxycytidylate deaminase activity and partial characterization of the enzyme.

Deoxycytidylate deaminase activity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been partially characterized. The yeast enzyme was found to exhibit properties similar to those of dCMP deaminases isolated from higher eucaryotes. A mutant strain completely deficient in dCMP deaminase activity was isolated by selection for resistance to 5-fluoro-2'-deoxycytidylate followed by screening for cross sensitivity to 5-fluoro-2'-deoxyuridylate, a potent inhibitor of the yeast thymidylate synthetase. We have designated this new allele dcd1 . A strain exhibiting an auxotrophic requirement for dUMP was isolated after mutagenesis of a dcd1 tup7 haploid. Genetic analysis revealed that this auxotrophic phenotype resulted from a combination of the dcd1 allele and a second, unlinked, nuclear mutation that we designated dmp1 . This allele, which by itself conveys no readily discernible phenotype, presumably impairs efficient synthesis of dUMP from UDP. The auxotrophic requirement of dcd1 dmp1 tup7 strains also can be satisfied by exogenous dTMP but not deoxyuridine.