Also, remember that all of the established axenic lines are compromised
genetically in a variety of ways, so many of these spontaneous phenotypes
are likely to be synthetic. If you're especially unlucky you might be
starting off with a mutator strain...

Gareth


> When axenising Dictyostelium cells, development is one of the principal
> problems.  It's fairly easy to make cells grow in axenic medium, but once
> the plates attain any degree of confluence they tend to initiate
> development, stream, and float off into the medium in big clumps.  A few
> remain, and it's those that axenise successfully (sometimes after several
> rounds).
>
> Therefore there are almost certainly direct selections against
> development, but against the earlier stages rather than fruiting.
>
> R
>
>
> On 23 Sep 2012, at 22:13, David Queller wrote:
>
> Loss of developmental competence in axenic culture could involve selection
> - not direct selection if fruiting isn't occurring - but selection on
> traits that are pleiotropically related to fruiting.
>
> --------------------------------------
> Professor Robert Insall
> CR-UK Beatson Institute for Cancer Research
> Switchback Road, Bearsden
> Glasgow G61 1BD, UK
>
> Tel.  (0/44) 141 330 4005
> Web http://www.beatson.gla.ac.uk/robert_insall
> --------------------------------------
>
>