Purine biosynthesis and its regulation in Neurospora crassa

Purine biosynthesis and its regulation was studied in Neurospora crassa by the incorporation of label from [14C]formate into total cellular purines. In general, the purine biosynthesis resulted in slightly more cellular guanine than adenine nucleotides. The acid-soluble pool however, contained more adenine compounds than guanine. Exogenous adenine was found to be an effective regulatory of the proximal steps of the de novo biosynthesis, while both adenine and guanine were equally effective in regulating the branch point activities. 6-Methyl purine inhibited the proximal steps of the purine synthesis more effectively than the branch point leading to adenine biosynthesis. A 6-methyl purine resistant mutant, Mepr-10, with defective adenine phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate transferase showed no inhibition of purine synthesis by 6-methyl purine, while 6-methyl purine resistant strains Mepr-3 and Mepr-1 showed partial inhibition. It has been suggested that Mepr-3 and Mepr-1 may be mutants of glutamine amidotransferase with altered affinities for 6-methyl purine. The rate of purine biosynthesis increased during the first 8 h of incubation of conidia in minimal medium, after which it declined even though the growth continued.