Extinction and expression of the ribose-positive phenotype in hybrid Novikoff hepatoma cells

Expression of the ribose-positive phenotype was examined in hybrids obtained from the fusion of parental pentose-negative Novikoff hepatoma cells and ribose-positive variants. The two ribose-positive variants used differed phenotypically in their ability to use pentoses other than ribose for growth. One variant used D-ribose, D-xylose, and L-arabinose for growth, while the other variant used only D-ribose. Each variant was fused to pentose-negative parental hepatoma cells, and resultant hybrids were tested for the ability to use ribose. In both instances extinction of ribose utilization was the primary event, suggesting the existence of a trans-acting negative control element in the parental cells. In addition, hybrids from both fusion experiments eventually reexpressed the ribose phenotype. The rate of reexpression, however, was different for the two fusion experiments. Reexpression of ribose utilization in hybrids derived from the nonspecific variant occurred at approximately 10(-3) segregants/cell/day. Reexpressing segregants arose from the specific-derived hybrids at a rate of 0.5 segregants/cell/day. Possible reasons for this difference include a differential rate in chromosomal segregation or a difference in the regulation of ribose metabolism.