GENETIC-CHARACTERIZATION OF 40 IONIZING RADIATION-SENSITIVE STRAINS OF DEINOCOCCUS-RADIODURANS - LINKAGE INFORMATION FROM TRANSFORMATION

Natural transformation was used to help define a collection of ionizin g radiation-sensitive strains of Deinococcus radiodurans. Three putati ve rec mutations were identified, as were three pol alleles. Forty of the ionizing radiation-sensitive strains were placed into 16 linkage g roups, and evidence obtained indicates that each linkage group consist s of a cluster of mutations not more than 1,000 bp apart. In addition, a new class of D. radiodurans mutant was described that, radioresista nt, appears to recover from ionizing radiation-induced DNA damage slow ly relative to other strains of D. radiodurans.