Purine Metabolism During Development in the Cellular Slime Mold, Dictyostelium discoideum

Abstract

The studies reported in this paper examine the metabolic reorientation of purine nucleotide metabolism during the development of the cellular slime mold, Dictyostelium discoideum. There appears to be an energy oriented redirection of purine nucleotide pools during development and these changes have been evaluated. The slime mold maintains its ability to synthesize nucleotides de novo and raises intracellular pools. Metabolic perturbations may be induced by a variety of purine and pyrimidine analogues and antimetabolites. All of these studies indicate that metabolic rearrangement of purine metabolism plays an integral role in the development of D. discoideum.