Drosophila purine auxotrophy: new alleles of adenosine 2 exhibiting a complex visible phenotype.

New mutant alleles of the adenosine2 locus (ade2; 2-17.7) have been isolated using the eye-color phenotype exhibited by the prototype auxotrophic allele ade2 as the screening criterion. The new mutants form a single complementation group, suggesting that they all exhibit purine auxotrophy and defective formylglycineamide ribotide amidotransferase enzyme, like ade2. Tests carried out on particular new alleles confirm these suggestions. The new mutants all exhibit more extreme physical defects than the prototype. They have wing abnormalities like mutants defective in pyrmidine biosynthesis and reduced bristles like those defective in protein synthesis; thus they exhibit the combined visible phenotype of rudimentary wings, rosy eyes, and bobbed bristles. Cytogenetic analysis places the locus in the interband proximal to 26B1-2.