scholarly journals Genetic interactions and functional analyses of the fission yeast gsk3 and amk2 single and double mutants defective in TORC1-dependent processes

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Charalampos Rallis ◽  
StJohn Townsend ◽  
Jürg Bähler

Abstract The Target of Rapamycin (TOR) signalling network plays important roles in aging and disease. The AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and the Gsk3 kinase inhibit TOR during stress. We performed genetic interaction screens using synthetic genetic arrays (SGA) with gsk3 and amk2 as query mutants, the latter encoding the regulatory subunit of AMPK. We identified 69 negative and 82 positive common genetic interactors, with functions related to cellular growth and stress. The 120 gsk3-specific negative interactors included genes functioning in translation and ribosomes. The 215 amk2-specific negative interactors included genes functioning in chromatin silencing and DNA damage repair. Both amk2- and gsk3-specific interactors were enriched in phenotype categories related to abnormal cell size and shape. We also performed SGA screen with the amk2 gsk3 double mutant as a query. Mutants sensitive to 5-fluorouracil, an anticancer drug are under-represented within the 305 positive interactors specific for the amk2 gsk3 query. The triple-mutant SGA screen showed higher number of negative interactions than the double mutant SGA screens and uncovered additional genetic network information. These results reveal common and specialized roles of AMPK and Gsk3 in mediating TOR-dependent processes, indicating that AMPK and Gsk3 act in parallel to inhibit TOR function in fission yeast.

Genetics ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 142 (4) ◽  
pp. 1095-1103
Author(s):  
Hiroshi Uemura ◽  
Sunil Pandit ◽  
Yoshifumi Jigami ◽  
Rolf Sternglanz

Abstract To study the functions of DNA topoisomerase I and Hpr1 protein, a suppressor mutant of the temperature-sensitive growth of an hpr1 top1-5ts double mutant was isolated. The isolated triple mutant showed cold-sensitive growth. By complementation of this phenotype, the suppressor gene was cloned. DNA sequencing showed it to be GCR3, a gene involved in the expression of glycolytic genes. Further analysis showed that gcr3 mutations also suppressed the temperature-sensitive growth of hpr1 single mutants. Experiments with gcr3 truncation mutants also suggested a genetic interaction between GCR3 and HPR1. The fact that top1 suppressed the growth defect of gcr3 suggested an interaction between those two genes also. Plasmid DNA isolated from gcr3 mutants was significantly more negatively supercoiled than normal, suggesting that Gcr3 protein, like topoisomerase I and Hpr1p, affects chromatin structure, perhaps during transcription.


2002 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 480-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom D. Wolkow ◽  
Tamar Enoch

Fission yeast Rad3 is a member of a family of phosphoinositide 3-kinase -related kinases required for the maintenance of genomic stability in all eukaryotic cells. In fission yeast, Rad3 regulates the cell cycle arrest and recovery activities associated with the G2/M checkpoint. We have developed an assay that directly measures Rad3 kinase activity in cells expressing physiological levels of the protein. Using the assay, we demonstrate directly that Rad3 kinase activity is stimulated by checkpoint signals. Of the five other G2/M checkpoint proteins (Hus1, Rad1, Rad9, Rad17, and Rad26), only Rad26 was required for Rad3 kinase activity. Because Rad26 has previously been shown to interact constitutively with Rad3, our results demonstrate that Rad26 is a regulatory subunit, and Rad3 is the catalytic subunit, of the Rad3/Rad26 kinase complex. Analysis of Rad26/Rad3 kinase activation in rad26.T12, a mutant that is proficient for cell cycle arrest, but defective in recovery, suggests that these two responses to checkpoint signals require quantitatively different levels of kinase activity from the Rad3/Rad26 complex.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharma Nidhi ◽  
Liu Tie

AbstractIn Arabidopsis, the genes SHOOT MERISTEMLESS (STM) and CLAVATA3 (CLV3) antagonistically regulate shoot meristem development. STM is essential for both development and maintenance of the meristem, as stm mutants fail to develop a shoot meristem during embryogenesis. CLV3, on the other hand, negatively regulates meristem proliferation, and clv3 mutants possess an enlarged shoot meristem. Genetic interaction studies revealed that stm and clv3 dominantly suppress each other’s phenotypes. STM works in conjunction with its closely related homologue KNOTTED1-LIKE HOMEOBOX GENE 6 (KNAT6) to promote meristem development and organ separation, as stm knat6 double mutants fail to form a meristem and produce a fused cotyledon. In this study, we show that clv3 fails to promote post-embryonic meristem formation in stm-1 background if we also remove KNAT6. stm-1 knat6 clv3 triple mutants result in early meristem termination and produce fused cotyledons similar to stm knat6 double mutant. Notably, the stm-1 knat6 and stm-1 knat6 clv3 alleles lack tissue in the presumed region of SAM. stm knat6 clv3 also showed reduced inflorescence size and shoot apex size as compared to clv3 single or stm clv3 double mutants. In contrast to previously published data, these data suggest that stm is epistatic to clv3 in postembryonic meristem development.HighlightSTM and KNAT6 genes determine post-embryonic meristem formation and activity in Arabidopsis. clv3 mutation is unable to rescue the stm knat6 meristemless phenotype.


1994 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 3895-3905
Author(s):  
S Kjaerulff ◽  
J Davey ◽  
O Nielsen

We previously identified two genes, mfm1 and mfm2, with the potential to encode the M-factor mating pheromone of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe (J. Davey, EMBO J. 11:951-960, 1992), but further analysis revealed that a mutant strain lacking both genes still produced active M-factor. Here we describe the isolation and characterization of a third M-factor gene, mfm3. A mutant lacking all three genes fails to produce M-factor, indicating that all functional M-factor genes now have been identified. The triple mutant exhibits an absolute mating defect in M cells, a defect that is not rescued by addition of exogenous M-factor. A mutational analysis reveals that all three mfm genes contribute to the production of M-factor. Their transcription is limited to M cells and requires the mat1-Mc and ste11 gene products. Each gene is induced when the cells are starved of nitrogen and further induced by a pheromone signal. Additionally, the signal transduction machinery associated with the pheromone response is required for transcription of the mfm genes in both stimulated and unstimulated cells.


2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (19) ◽  
pp. 2107-2114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Zambon ◽  
Saravanan Palani ◽  
Shekhar Sanjay Jadhav ◽  
Pananghat Gayathri ◽  
Mohan K. Balasubramanian

This work reveals an in vivo role for Myosin II in actin dynamics, potentially in its disassembly and turnover. The work uses double mutant analysis to arrive at this conclusion using the fission yeast as a model organism.


2004 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 190-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro Cassola ◽  
Marc Parrot ◽  
Susana Silberstein ◽  
Beatrice B. Magee ◽  
Susana Passeron ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The fungal pathogen Candida albicans switches from a yeast-like to a filamentous mode of growth in response to a variety of environmental conditions. We examined the morphogenetic behavior of C. albicans yeast cells lacking the BCY1 gene, which encodes the regulatory subunit of protein kinase A. We cloned the BCY1 gene and generated a bcy1 tpk2 double mutant strain because a homozygous bcy1 mutant in a wild-type genetic background could not be obtained. In the bcy1 tpk2 mutant, protein kinase A activity (due to the presence of the TPK1 gene) was cyclic AMP independent, indicating that the cells harbored an unregulated phosphotransferase activity. This mutant has constitutive protein kinase A activity and displayed a defective germinative phenotype in N-acetylglucosamine and in serum-containing medium. The subcellular localization of a Tpk1-green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion protein was examined in wild-type, tpk2 null, and bcy1 tpk2 double mutant strains. The fusion protein was observed to be predominantly nuclear in wild-type and tpk2 strains. This was not the case in the bcy1 tpk2 double mutant, where it appeared dispersed throughout the cell. Coimmunoprecipitation of Bcy1p with the Tpk1-GFP fusion protein demonstrated the interaction of these proteins inside the cell. These results suggest that one of the roles of Bcy1p is to tether the protein kinase A catalytic subunit to the nucleus.


Cell Cycle ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 765-776 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoh Adachi ◽  
Aya Kokubu ◽  
Masahiro Ebe ◽  
Koji Nagao ◽  
Mitsuhiro Yanagida

2003 ◽  
Vol 23 (18) ◽  
pp. 6564-6573 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charly Chahwan ◽  
Toru M. Nakamura ◽  
Sasirekha Sivakumar ◽  
Paul Russell ◽  
Nicholas Rhind

ABSTRACT Mre11, Rad50, and Nbs1 form a conserved heterotrimeric complex that is involved in recombination and DNA damage checkpoints. Mutations in this complex disrupt the S-phase DNA damage checkpoint, the checkpoint which slows replication in response to DNA damage, and cause chromosome instability and cancer in humans. However, how these proteins function and specifically where they act in the checkpoint signaling pathway remain crucial questions. We identified fission yeast Nbs1 by using a comparative genomic approach and showed that the genes for human Nbs1 and fission yeast Nbs1 and that for their budding yeast counterpart, Xrs2, are members of an evolutionarily related but rapidly diverging gene family. Fission yeast Nbs1, Rad32 (the homolog of Mre11), and Rad50 are involved in DNA damage repair, telomere regulation, and the S-phase DNA damage checkpoint. However, they are not required for G2 DNA damage checkpoint. Our results suggest that a complex of Rad32, Rad50, and Nbs1 acts specifically in the S-phase branch of the DNA damage checkpoint and is not involved in general DNA damage recognition or signaling.


1991 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 5839-5847 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Kinoshita ◽  
M Goebl ◽  
M Yanagida

The fission yeast mutant dis3-54 is defective in mitosis and fails in chromosome disjunction. Its phenotype is similar to that of dis2-11, a mutant with a mutation in the type 1 protein phosphatase gene. We cloned the dis3+ gene by transformation. Nucleotide sequencing predicts a coding region of 970 amino acids interrupted by a 164-bp intron at the 65th codon. The predicted dis3+ protein shares a weak but significant similarity with the budding yeast SSD1 or SRK1 gene product, the gene for which is a suppressor for the absence of a protein phosphatase SIT4 gene or the BCY1 regulatory subunit of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase. Anti-dis3 antibodies recognized the 110-kDa dis3+ gene product, which is part of a 250- to 350-kDa oligomer and is enriched in the nucleus. The cellular localization of the dis3+ protein is reminiscent of that of the dis2+ protein, but these two proteins do not form a complex. A type 1 protein phosphatase activity in the dis3-54 mutant extracts is apparently not affected. The dis3+ gene is essential for growth; gene disruptant cells do not germinate and fail in cell division. Increased dis3+ gene dosage reverses the Ts+ phenotype of a cdc25 wee1 strain, as does increased type 1 protein phosphatase gene dosage. Double mutant dis3 dis2 is lethal even at the permissive temperature, suggesting that the dis2+ and dis3+ genes may be functionally overlapped. The role of the dis3+ gene product in mitosis is unknown, but this gene product may be directly or indirectly involved in the regulation of mitosis.


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