Mutations at 18 loci which map to five linkage groups in Dictyostelium discoideum are shown to affect resistance to antimicrotubule agents (including coumarin). The resistance or sensitivity mutations are classified according to whether their effects are limited to antimicrotubule agents, or whether cross-resistance or sensitivity to other compounds (notably acriflavin and cycloheximide) is observed. The latter class is likely to include mutations affecting permeability and is probably not of interest in the search for mutations directly affecting the cytoskeleton. All four acriflavin-resistance loci (acrA to acrD), many coumarin-sensitivity loci (couB to couE, couI), and both arsenate-resistance loci (arsA, arsB) fall into this category. Many mutants isolated on the basis of resistance to antimicrotubule agents (e.g. benlate, thiabendazole) in fact map at acrA or acrC. Some mutations affecting resistance to microtubule inhibitors also affect spore shape. Analysis of mutations such as couG370 and couH361, which affect coumarin sensitivity, spore shape, temperature sensitivity and, in the case of couH361, thiabendazole sensitivity provides the possibility of an ultrastructural approach to the study of the cytoskeleton in D. discoideum.
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