scholarly journals Mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae unresponsive to cell division control by polypeptide mating hormone.

1980 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 811-822 ◽  
Author(s):  
L H Hartwell

Temperature-sensitive mutations that produce insensitivity to division arrest by alpha-factor, a mating pheromone, were isolated in an MATa strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and shown by complementation studies to difine eight genes. All of these mutations (designated ste) produce sterility at the restrictive temperature in MATa cells, and mutations in seven of the genes produce sterility in MAT alpha cells. In no case was the sterility associated with these mutations coorectible by including wild-type cells of the same mating type in the mating test nor did nay of the mutants inhibit mating of the wild-type cells; the defect appears to be intrinsic to the cell for mutations in each of the genes. Apparently, none of the mutants is defective exclusively in division arrest by alpha-factor, as the sterility of none is suppressed by a temperature-sensitive cdc 28 mutation (the latter imposes division arrest at the correct cell cycle stage for mating). The mutants were examined for features that are inducible in MATa cells by alpha-factor (agglutinin synthesis as well as division arrest) and for the characteristics that constitutively distinguish MATa from MAT alpha cells (a-factor production, alpha-factor destruction). ste2 Mutants are defective specifically in the two inducible properties, whereas ste4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, and 12 mutants are defective, to varying degrees, in constitutive as well as inducible aspects. Mutations in ste8 and 9 assume a polar budding pattern unlike either MATa or MAT alpha cells but characteristic of MATa/alpha cells. This study defines seven genes that function in two cell types (MATa and alpha) to control the differentiation of cell type and one gene, ste2, that functions exclusively in MATa cells to mediate responsiveness to polypeptide hormone.

Genetics ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 121 (3) ◽  
pp. 463-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Bender ◽  
G F Sprague

Abstract Saccharomyces cerevisiae has two haploid cell types, a and alpha, each of which produces a unique set of proteins that participate in the mating process. We sought to determine the minimum set of proteins that must be expressed to allow mating and to confer specificity. We show that the capacity to synthesize alpha-factor pheromone and a-factor receptor is sufficient to allow mating by mat alpha 1 mutants, mutants that normally do not express any alpha- or a-specific products. Likewise, the capacity to synthesize a-factor receptor and alpha-factor pheromone is sufficient to allow a ste2 ste6 mutants, which do not produce the normal a cell pheromone and receptor, to mate with wild-type a cells. Thus, the a-factor receptor and alpha-factor pheromone constitute the minimum set of alpha-specific proteins that must be produced to allow mating as an alpha cell. Further evidence that the pheromones and pheromone receptors are important determinants of mating specificity comes from studies with mat alpha 2 mutants, cells that simultaneously express both pheromones and both receptors. We created a series of strains that express different combinations of pheromones and receptors in a mat alpha 2 background. These constructions reveal that mat alpha 2 mutants can be made to mate as either a cells or as alpha cells by causing them to express only the pheromone and receptor set appropriate for a particular cell type. Moreover, these studies show that the inability of mat alpha 2 mutants to respond to either pheromone is a consequence of two phenomena: adaptation to an autocrine response to the pheromones they secrete and interference with response to alpha factor by the a-factor receptor.


1989 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 1191-1199
Author(s):  
M Bernstein ◽  
F Kepes ◽  
R Schekman

When incubated at a restrictive temperature, Saccharomyces cerevisiae sec59 mutant cells accumulate inactive and incompletely glycosylated forms of secretory proteins. Three different secretory polypeptides (invertase, pro-alpha-factor, and pro-carboxypeptidase Y) accumulated within a membrane-bounded organelle, presumably the endoplasmic reticulum, and resisted proteolytic degradation unless the membrane was permeabilized with detergent. Molecular cloning and DNA sequence analysis of the SEC59 gene predicted an extremely hydrophobic protein product of 59 kilodaltons. This prediction was confirmed by reconstitution of the sec59 defect in vitro. The alpha-factor precursor, which was translated in a soluble fraction from wild-type cells, was translocated into, but inefficiently glycosylated within, membranes from sec59 mutant cells. Residual glycosylation activity of membranes of sec59 cells was thermolabile compared with the activity of wild-type membranes. Partial restoration of glycosylation was obtained in reactions that were supplemented with mannose or GDP-mannose, but not those supplemented with other sugar nucleotides. These results were consistent with a role for the Sec59 protein in the transfer of mannose to dolichol-linked oligosaccharide.


1992 ◽  
Vol 3 (9) ◽  
pp. 1025-1035 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Madden ◽  
M Snyder

Many eucaryotic cell types exhibit polarized cell growth and polarized cell division at nonrandom sites. The sites of polarized growth were investigated in G1 arrested haploid Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells. When yeast cells are arrested during G1 either by treatment with alpha-factor or by shifting temperature-sensitive cdc28-1 cells to the restrictive temperature, the cells form a projection. Staining with Calcofluor reveals that in both cases the projection usually forms at axial sites (i.e., next to the previous bud scar); these are the same sites where bud formation is expected to occur. These results indicate that sites of polarized growth are specified before the end of G1. Sites of polarized growth can be influenced by external conditions. Cells grown to stationary phase and diluted into fresh medium preferentially select sites for polarized growth opposite the previous bud scar (i.e., distal sites). Incubation of cells in a mating mixture results in projection formation at nonaxial sites: presumably cells form projections toward their mating partner. These observations have important implications in understanding three aspects of cell polarity in yeast: 1) how yeast cell shape is influenced by growth conditions 2) how sites of polarized growth are chosen, and 3) the pathway by which polarity is affected and redirected during the mating process.


1989 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 1191-1199 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Bernstein ◽  
F Kepes ◽  
R Schekman

When incubated at a restrictive temperature, Saccharomyces cerevisiae sec59 mutant cells accumulate inactive and incompletely glycosylated forms of secretory proteins. Three different secretory polypeptides (invertase, pro-alpha-factor, and pro-carboxypeptidase Y) accumulated within a membrane-bounded organelle, presumably the endoplasmic reticulum, and resisted proteolytic degradation unless the membrane was permeabilized with detergent. Molecular cloning and DNA sequence analysis of the SEC59 gene predicted an extremely hydrophobic protein product of 59 kilodaltons. This prediction was confirmed by reconstitution of the sec59 defect in vitro. The alpha-factor precursor, which was translated in a soluble fraction from wild-type cells, was translocated into, but inefficiently glycosylated within, membranes from sec59 mutant cells. Residual glycosylation activity of membranes of sec59 cells was thermolabile compared with the activity of wild-type membranes. Partial restoration of glycosylation was obtained in reactions that were supplemented with mannose or GDP-mannose, but not those supplemented with other sugar nucleotides. These results were consistent with a role for the Sec59 protein in the transfer of mannose to dolichol-linked oligosaccharide.


1982 ◽  
Vol 2 (9) ◽  
pp. 1052-1063
Author(s):  
J R Shuster

Temperature-sensitive mutants which arrest in the G1 phase of the cell cycle have been described for the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. One class of these mutants (carrying cdc28, cdc36, cdc37, or cdc39) forms a shmoo morphology at restrictive temperature, characteristic of mating pheromone-arrested wild-type cells. Therefore, one hypothesis to explain the control of cell division by mating factors states that mating pheromones arrest wild-type cells by inactivating one or more of these CDC gene products. A class of mutants (carrying ste4, ste5, ste7, ste11, or ste12) which is insensitive to mating pheromone and sterile has also been described. One possible function of the STE gene products is the inactivation of the CDC gene products in the presence of a mating pheromone. A model incorporating these two hypotheses predicts that such STE gene products will not be required for mating in strains carrying an appropriate cdc lesion. This prediction was tested by assaying the mating abilities of double mutants for all of the pairwise combinations of cdc and ste mutations. Lesions in either cdc36 or cdc39 suppressed the mating defect due to ste4 and ste5. Allele specificity was observed in the suppression of both ste4 and ste5. The results indicate that the CDC36, CDC39, STE4, and STE5 gene products interact functionally or physically or both in the regulation of cell division mediated by the presence or absence of mating pheromones. The cdc36 and cdc39 mutations did not suppress ste7, ste11, or ste12. Lesions in cdc28 or cdc37 did not suppress any of the ste mutations. Other models of CDC and STE gene action which predicted that some of the cdc and ste mutations would be alleles of the same locus were tested. None of the cdc mutations was allelic to the ste mutations and, therefore, these models were eliminated.


1993 ◽  
Vol 120 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Raths ◽  
J Rohrer ◽  
F Crausaz ◽  
H Riezman

alpha-factor, one of two peptide hormones responsible for synchronized mating between MATa and MAT alpha-cell types in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, binds to its cell surface receptor and is internalized in a time-, temperature-, and energy-dependent manner (Chvatchko, Y., I. Howald, and H. Riezman. 1986. Cell. 46:355-364). After internalization, alpha-factor is delivered to the vacuole via vesicular intermediates and degraded there consistent with an endocytic mechanism (Singer, B., and H. Riezman. 1990. J. Cell Biol. 110:1911-1922; Chvatchko, Y., I. Howald, and H. Riezman. 1986. Cell. 46:355-364). We have isolated two mutants that are defective in the internalization process. Both mutations confer a recessive, temperature-sensitive growth phenotype upon cells that cosegregates with their endocytosis defect. Lucifer yellow, a marker for fluid-phase endocytosis, shows accumulation characteristics in the mutants that are similar to the uptake characteristics of 35S-alpha-factor. The endocytic defect in end4 cells appears immediately upon shift to restrictive temperature and is reversible at permissive temperature if new protein synthesis is allowed. Furthermore, the end4 mutation only affects alpha-factor internalization and not the later delivery of alpha-factor to the vacuole. Other vesicle-mediated processes seem to be normal in end3 and end4 mutants. END3 and END4 are the first genes shown to be necessary for the internalization step of receptor-borne and fluid-phase markers in yeast.


Genetics ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 119 (4) ◽  
pp. 797-804
Author(s):  
I Miyajima ◽  
N Nakayama ◽  
M Nakafuku ◽  
Y Kaziro ◽  
K Arai ◽  
...  

Abstract The Saccharomyces cerevisiae GPA1 gene encodes a protein highly homologous to the alpha subunit of mammalian G proteins and is essential for haploid cell growth. We have selected 77 mutants able to suppress the lethality resulting from disruption of GPA1 (gpa1::HIS3). Two strains bearing either of two recessive mutations, sgp1 and sgp2, in combination with the disruption mutation, showed a cell type nonspecific sterile phenotype, yet expressed the major alpha-factor gene (MF alpha 1) as judged by the ability to express a MF alpha 1-lacZ fusion gene. The sgp1 mutation was closely linked to gpa1::HIS3 and probably occurred at the GPA1 locus. The sgp2 mutation was not linked to GPA1 and was different from the previously identified cell type nonspecific sterile mutations (ste4, ste5, ste7, ste11 and ste12). sgp2 GPA1 cells showed a fertile phenotype, indicating that the mating defect caused by sgp2 is associated with the loss of GPA1 function. While expression of a FUS1-lacZ fusion gene was induced in wild-type cells by the addition of alpha-factor, mutants bearing sgp1 or sgp2 as well as gpa1::HIS3 constitutively expressed FUS1-lacZ. These observations suggest that GPA1 (SGP1) and SGP2 are involved in mating factor-mediated signal transduction, which causes both cell cycle arrest in the late G1 phase and induction of genes necessary for mating such as FUS1.


1982 ◽  
Vol 2 (9) ◽  
pp. 1052-1063 ◽  
Author(s):  
J R Shuster

Temperature-sensitive mutants which arrest in the G1 phase of the cell cycle have been described for the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. One class of these mutants (carrying cdc28, cdc36, cdc37, or cdc39) forms a shmoo morphology at restrictive temperature, characteristic of mating pheromone-arrested wild-type cells. Therefore, one hypothesis to explain the control of cell division by mating factors states that mating pheromones arrest wild-type cells by inactivating one or more of these CDC gene products. A class of mutants (carrying ste4, ste5, ste7, ste11, or ste12) which is insensitive to mating pheromone and sterile has also been described. One possible function of the STE gene products is the inactivation of the CDC gene products in the presence of a mating pheromone. A model incorporating these two hypotheses predicts that such STE gene products will not be required for mating in strains carrying an appropriate cdc lesion. This prediction was tested by assaying the mating abilities of double mutants for all of the pairwise combinations of cdc and ste mutations. Lesions in either cdc36 or cdc39 suppressed the mating defect due to ste4 and ste5. Allele specificity was observed in the suppression of both ste4 and ste5. The results indicate that the CDC36, CDC39, STE4, and STE5 gene products interact functionally or physically or both in the regulation of cell division mediated by the presence or absence of mating pheromones. The cdc36 and cdc39 mutations did not suppress ste7, ste11, or ste12. Lesions in cdc28 or cdc37 did not suppress any of the ste mutations. Other models of CDC and STE gene action which predicted that some of the cdc and ste mutations would be alleles of the same locus were tested. None of the cdc mutations was allelic to the ste mutations and, therefore, these models were eliminated.


Development ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-187
Author(s):  
David P. Cross ◽  
James H. Sang

Results are reported from the culturing in vitro of cells from individual early gastrulae of the following four groups of X-linked embryonic lethal mutants of Drosophila melanogaster. (1) Notch lethals. Five Notch mutants were studied which have been reported to give similar abnormalities in whole embryos: the nervous system displays a three-fold hypertrophy as part of a shift in the pattern of differentiation within ectodermal derivatives, and mesodermal derivatives do not differentiate. An hypertrophy of nerve was found in cell cultures prepared from embryos of all five mutants. In addition, four of the five alleles consistently gave abnormalities of muscle differentiation: when compared to controls, Notch cultures had a reduced frequency of myotubes, and displayed unusual clusters of myocytes which had either failed to fuse or had fused incompletely. Results from mixed cultures prepared from two embryos were consistent with the autonomous expression of nerve and muscle abnormalities by Notch-8 cells in the presence of wild-type cells. It is argued that the Notch locus has a direct role in the differentiation of both nerve and muscle. (2) white deficiencies. Cells carrying either of two deficiencies gave a clear-cut pattern of abnormalities: initial cellular differentiations were normal, but nerve, muscle and fat-body cells progressively deteriorated during the culture period. Mixed cultures showed that wild-type cells could not ‘rescue’ mutant muscle and fat-body cells; however, the status of the autonomy of mutant nerve abnormalities in these cultures was unclear. Both white deficiencies remove cytological band 3C1, and this permits a comparison of results with those from cultures of cells from Notch-8 embryos (also deficient for 3C1). Abnormalities displayed in cultures of the two types of mutant show no overlap. Therefore no consistent cellular abnormality can be attributed to absence of band 3C1. (3) lethal{l)myospheroid. In contrast to earlier observations on in vitro cell cultures (Donady & Seecof, 1972) muscle was seen to differentiate, though its morphology was extremely abnormal. Observations indicated that all cell types within the cultures had poor properties of adhesion to a glass substrate. It is argued that the observed abnormalities are not consistent with a mutant lesion which is restricted to the basement membrane (contra Wright, 1960), and that all cell types carry a basic defect which may reside in the cell membrane. (4) shibirets alleles. Cultures of two temperature-sensitive lethal shibire alleles (shits1, shits3) were normal at the permissive temperature of 22 °C. At the restrictive temperature (29 °C) early cell differentiation was normal but subsequent development was blocked. This blockage could be partially reversed by shifting cultures to the permissive temperature after as much as 10 days exposure to the high temperature. It is suggested that shits cells are mutant in a process which is basic to several cell types.


Genetics ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 126 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-308
Author(s):  
F R Cross

Abstract A dominant mutation (DAF2-2) resulting in resistance to the mating pheromone alpha-factor in Saccharomyces cerevisiae MATa cells was identified and characterized genetically. Whereas wild-type cells induce a high level of the FUS1 mRNA from a low baseline on exposure to alpha-factor, DAF2-2 cells were constitutive producers of an intermediate level of FUS1 RNA; the level was increased only modestly by alpha-factor. FUS1 constitutivity required STE4, STE5 and STE18, but did not require STE2, the alpha-factor receptor gene. DAF2-2 suppressed the alpha-factor supersensitivity of a STE2 C-terminal truncation, and suppressed lethality due to scg1 mutations. Thus DAF2-2 may act by uncoupling the signaling pathway from alpha-factor binding at some point in the pathway between Scg1 inactivation and the action of Ste4, Ste5 and Ste18; this uncoupling might occur at the expense of partial constitutive activation of the pathway. DAF2-2 suppressed the unconditional cell-cycle arrest phenotype of a dominant "constitutive signaling" allele of STE4 (STE4Hpl), although the constitutive FUS1 phenotype of DAF2-2 was suppressed by ste4 null mutations; therefore DAF2-2 may directly affect the performance of the STE4 step.


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