Control of free methionine production in wild type and ethionine-resistant mutants of Chlorella sorokiniana

Mutants of Chlorella sorokiniana selected for resistance to the methionine analogue ethionine took up ethionine at the same rate as did the wild type strain. Cells of two ethionine-resistant mutants produced severalfold higher levels of free methionine and cysteine than did wild type cells. Exogenous methionine had no apparent effect on free methionine production in a mutant that produces excessive levels of free methionine. Under the same conditions, production of free methionine was relatively inhibited in wild type cells and in a mutant that produces wild type levels of free methionine. The results suggest that free methionine production in the wild type strain is subject to endproduct control, and that this control is lacking in one class of ethionine-resistant mutants.