| Abstract: | The genetic events controlling the ability of transformed cells to grow in a medium with a low serum content (ser+) were studied. A hypodiploid clone of Chinese hamster cells with normal serum requirements (49a5ser-) was used as starting material. The results of the fluctuation tests have shown that serum-independence is a random spontaneous event. Its rate of occurrence is 1-2 . 10(-5). The concomitant study of a gene mutation (resistance to 6-mercaptopurine) revealed similar characteristics with respect to the distribution of the number of mutants in replicate cultures and the mutation rate. N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) and the oncogenic SV40 virus significantly increased the frequency of ser+ colonies. In the majority of clones isolated in a medium with 1% serum (11 spontaneous and 7 induced by MNNG), the ser+ character proved to be stable after different periods of cultivation without selective pressure. The degree of serum-independence varied in different clones. The results suggest that the ability to grow in a medium with a low serum content originates, in most cases, from a mutation event. |
