An FM3A mutant, G258, with a mutation that affects both cell growth and oligosaccharide-lipid synthesis.

I have previously isolated a temperature-sensitive FM3A mutant (G258) defective in asparagine-linked glycosylation. G258 shows not only the temperature sensitivity for cell growth, but also temperature sensitivity for synthesis of oligosaccharide-lipid (Nishikawa, Y. (1984) J. Cell. Physiol. 119, 260-266). In the present study, I isolated revertants for cell growth from G258 cells. All three growth revertants also showed reversion on the synthesis of oligosaccharide-lipid. These results imply that the temperature sensitivity for oligosaccharide-lipid synthesis of G258 couples with the temperature sensitivity for cell growth of the mutant. A possible mechanism of the coupling between impaired oligosaccharide-lipid synthesis and growth arrest of G258 cells at 39 degrees C is discussed.