The induction of lincomycin resistance in Lycopersicon peruvianum and Lycopersicon esculentum

Lincomycin-resistant calli were induced from both Lycopersicon esculentum and Lycopersicon peruvianum using N-mitroso-N-methylurea (NMU) mutagenesis. From these calli lincomycin-resistant plants were regenerated. For L. peruvianum it was shown that the resistant plants could be divided in two classes with respect to their resistance to lincomycin and its derivative clindamycin. The first class comprised plants which were resistant to 500 mg/l lincomycin and showed no shoot or root formation in the presence of clindamycin; the second class consisted of plants resistant to 2000 mg/l lincomycin and these plants were able to form shoots and roots on clindamycin containing media. Lincomycin is an inhibitor of peptidyltransferase; chloroplast encoded parts of this enzymatic function are sensitive for this antibiotic. Reciprocal crosses between our lincomycin resistant and wild type L. peruvianum plants indicated a maternal inheritance of the mutation.