Isolation of multiple mutants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa capable of efficient thymine salvage

Mutants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain 1 which incorporate relatively large amounts of thymine into their DNA were isolated. Three steps were required to produce this phenotype. First, strains constitutive for thymine uptake and catabolism were isolated, followed by selection for mutants which could not catabolize thymine. The double mutant was then used to isolate a strain exhibiting greater sensitivity to the thymine analog 5-bromouracil. Efficient DNA-specific pulse labelling with isotopic thymine was successfully carried out with this strain.