DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY 
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA 
ATHENS, GEORGIA 30602 
(404) 542-5469 
June 12, 1978 
Dr. William J. Gartland 
Director, Office of Recombinant 
DNA Activities 
NIGMS 
National Institutes of Health 
Bethesda, Maryland 20014 
Dear Dr. Gartland: 
I am writing to you in connection with the utilization of the red bread mold 
Neurospora crassa as a cloning vehicle in recombinant DNA experiments. 
Some months ago we were informed, on the basis of inquiries by the Chairman 
of our Bio-Hazards Committee here at the University of Georgia, Dr. Bruce Carlton, 
that such utilization was not permitted. This information came to Dr. Carlton on 
the basis of a telephone conversation he had with you. 
Meanwhile, Dr. Gerald Fink at Cornell had similar ideas for using yeast in 
transformation experiments, and as I am sure you are aware, received permission 
from NSF, but initially not from NIH, to carry out such experiments. More re- 
cently this permission has been given by NIH. On the basis of these develop- 
ments, I am raising once again the possibility of utilizing Neurospora crassa 
for similar experiments. He ha-ve been successful in inserting Neurospora DNA 
into the E_. coli plasmid pBR322 with the subsequent expression of one of the 
genes in the £a gene cluster whose regulation we are interested in studying. This 
hybrid plasmid synthesizes, in _E. coli an enzyme, catabolic dehydroquinase , which 
is indistinguishable from the Neurospora enzyme and very different from the E_. 
coli biosynthetic enzyme which it replaces. In our judgment these experiments 
constitute the first clear proof of expression with apparent complete fidelity 
at the levels of both transcription and translation of eucaryotic DNA in a pro- 
caryotic host. As I indicated, we have been interested for some time in doing 
the reverse experiment and introducing the recombinant DNA from E_. coli into an 
appropriate Neurospora host as a test for transformation. The experiments which 
Dr. Fink has carried out have indicated that this can be done with yeast. 
As I am sure you are aware, Neurospora species are Ascomycetes relatively 
closely related to yeast. Typically they occur in nature in tropical regions, _ 
often growning- on burned-over sugar cane fields or on other dead vegetation. In 
the past Neurospora has been something of a pest in bakeries, hence the common 
name, red bread mold. In West Java, Neurospora is an essential component of 
ontjom, a foodstuff prepared from soybean or peanut cakes on which the fungus 
grows and conidiates. There is no evidence that this organism is in any way 
pathogenic to human beings, or indeed to any other animals. In fact, it must 
have been ingested on countless occasions without any health problems. 
To my knowledge there is no evidence that Neurospora carries either DNA 
viruses or any structures comparable to bacterial plasmids. There is no evidence 
[Appendix A — 328] 
AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/ AFFIRMATIVE ACTION INSTITUTION 
