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Circadian rhythm mutants of the prokaryoticSynechococcus RF-1

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Abstract

Synechococcus RF-1 established circadian rhythms in nitrogen fixation and leucine uptake when growing in a diurnal light/dark regimen. The rhythms persisted in subsequent uniform light/light conditions. In order to analyze the circadian rhythm at the genetic level, mutants were induced by N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine and then isolated by procedures with the circadian nitrogen-fixing rhythm as a selecton marker. Characterization of the mutants with respect to the circadian rhythm indicated that some mutants were abnormal only in the nitrogen-fixing rhythm, while some simultaneously lost the ability to establish the nitrogen-fixing and leucine-uptake rhythms. The physiological properties of the circadian rhythm were compared. The genetic potential of the mutants that were abnormal in both rhythms is emphasized.

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Huang, TC., Wang, ST. & Grobbelaar, N. Circadian rhythm mutants of the prokaryoticSynechococcus RF-1. Current Microbiology 27, 249–254 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01575987

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