Isolation and Properties of an Ultraviolet-sensitive Mutant of Rhizobium trifolii

SUMMARY: In an attempt to isolate a strain of Rhizobium trifolii which could be highly mutated by ultraviolet light (u.v.), a u.v.-sensitive mutant was isolated using a semi-selective procedure. The mutant was not only 85 times more sensitive than the wild-type to the lethal effects of u.v., but was mutated at u.v. doses which had little mutagenic effect on the wild-type. Its sensitivity to the mutagenic agents methyl methanesulphonate and gamma rays was unaltered, but its spontaneous mutation frequencies for two antibiotic resistances were increased. The mutation conferring u.v. sensitivity was mapped on the chromosome of Rhizobium leguminosarum 300 in a position between the markers ser-2 and ade-88. Unsuccessful attempts were made to transfer into the u.v.-sensitive mutant any one of a number of plasmids known to decrease the lethality of u.v. and enhance its mutagenicity.