The PurR mutation of Drosophila melanogaster confers resistance to purine and 2,6-diaminopurine by elevating adenosine deaminase activity.

Media supplemented with purine (7H-imidazo[4,5-d]pyrimidine) or the purine analogue 2,6-diaminopurine (DAP) can be employed to select several classes of purine-resistant variants from mutagenized cultures of Drosophila. One class results in elevated resistance to purine and diaminopurine which is correlated with elevated activity of the enzyme adenosine deaminase (adenosine aminohydrolase = EC 3.5.4.4). The first member of this class, Pur R, maps to position 82 +/- in the right arm of the second chromosome. The Pur R mutation causes an elevation of adenosine deaminase (ADA) enzyme activity, apparently by altering a thermolabile, ADA-specific repressor. Pur R may thus encode a negative regulator of adenosine deaminase activity similar to the ADA-binding protein found in mammalian systems.