Characterisation of ribosomes from drug resistant strains of Schizosaccharomyces pombe in a poly U directed cell free protein synthesising system.

Mutants of Schizosaccharomyces pombe were isolated as resistant either to trichodermin or to anisomycin. Growth tests showed that the majority of mutants isolated were cross resistant to both drugs and also to cycloheximide. A limited genetic analysis showed that mutants at least four loci, tri3, tri4, ani1 and ani2, had this phenotype as was also the case for mutants at three cycloheximide resistant loci, cyh2, cyh3 and cyh4 reported previously (Ibrahim and Coddington, 1976). Allelism tests showed that the tri3, ani2 and cyh4 strains were allelic. A mutant at another trichodermin resistant locus, tri5, was cross resistant to anisomycin but sensitive to cycloheximide. Ribosomes from wild type and selected strains were analysed in a poly U directed cell free protein synthesising system. Three strains, cyh1-C7, ani1-F1 and tri-N15 (probably a tri5 allele) possessed ribosomes which were more resistant than the wild type to the drugs used in their isolation. In each case the site of the resistance was in the 60S subunit. Ribosomes from the cyh2, cyh3 and cyh4 strains were as sensitive to cycloheximide as those from wild type.