An antisuppressor that acts on omnipotent suppressors in yeast.

Six partially dominant antisuppressors were obtained that reduce the efficiency of two omnipotent yeast suppressors, sup45 and sup35, thought to be ribosomal ambiguity mutations. Each of these six antisuppressors was shown to fall within a single Mendelian locus, named asu9. The asu9 mutations are specific for omnipotent suppressors; they have no effect on several dominant tRNA-like suppressors. In the absence of suppressors, asu9 causes sensitivity to the aminoglycoside antibiotic, paromomycin. The properties of asu9 are consistent with the hypothesis that asu9 alters yeast ribosomal proteins.