This RUI proposal is focused on Neurospora mutants that are deficient in several blue-light mediated processes, and that accumulate a compound of unknown chemical identity in the growth medium; this compound does not accumulate in either albino mutants, or wild-type cells. The research will be focused on isolation and identification of the chemical structure of this metabolite and its role in blue-light regulated processes; radiochemical approaches to determining precursor-product relationships will be employed, as they will also in assessing the effects of the metabolite on synthesis of carotenoid pigments in "white-collar" mutants.
