scholarly journals Specification of sites for polarized growth in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the influence of external factors on site selection.

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.

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.


1983 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 307-322
Author(s):  
K.M. Richmond ◽  
D.H. Williamson

We report here an analysis of the execution point of the temperature-sensitive Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell cycle mutant, cdc27-47. When a logarithmically growing culture was shifted from standard growth conditions (strain 27.8B growing in YEPD at 25 degrees C) to the restrictive temperature cell division ceased abruptly and reproducibly within one population doubling time, the extent of cell division indicating an execution point early in the cell cycle. Approximately 50% of stationary-phase cells were able to divide when refed with fresh medium at 37 degrees C, showing that the execution point could be passed before ‘start’. This makes the sharp cut-off in cell division difficult to explain. This difficulty was compounded by observations of the cell cycle stage at which individual cells acquired the capacity to divide at 37 degrees C. Half the cells that were budded at the time of a temperature shift-up formed three division-blocked cells, and in 11 of these 13 cases, two were descended from the original mother cell and one from the original bud. Thus, mother and daughter cells pass the execution point independently; daughters usually during G1, and mothers usually in the budded phase of the previous cycle. The sharp cut-off in cell division is therefore spurious, and a mechanism is proposed to account for it, which has implications for the interpretation of the execution points of other cdc mutants. In addition, the expression of the cdc27-47 execution point was modified by both genetic and environmental factors, being affected by carbon source, by the petite condition, and by genetic background. This illustrates the difficulties of interpreting execution point data and the dangers of extrapolation of cell cycle parameters between strains and growth conditions.


1994 ◽  
Vol 125 (4) ◽  
pp. 825-842 ◽  
Author(s):  
S H Lillie ◽  
S S Brown

Myo2 protein (Myo2p), an unconventional myosin in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, has been implicated in polarized growth and secretion by studies of the temperature-sensitive myo2-66 mutant. Overexpression of Smy1p, which by sequence is a kinesin-related protein, can partially compensate for defects in the myo2 mutant (Lillie, S. H. and S. S. Brown, 1992. Nature (Lond.). 356:358-361). We have now immunolocalized Smy1p and Myo2p. Both are concentrated in regions of active growth, as caps at incipient bud sites and on small buds, at the mother-bud neck just before cell separation, and in mating cells as caps on shmoo tips and at the fusion bridge of zygotes. Double labeling of cells with either Myo2p or Smy1p antibody plus phalloidin was used to compare the localization of Smy1p and Myo2p to actin, and by extrapolation, to each other. These studies confirmed that Myo2p and Smy1p colocalize, and are concentrated in the same general regions of the cell as actin spots. However, neither colocalizes with actin. We noted a correlation in the behavior of Myo2p, Smy1p, and actin, but not microtubules, under a number of circumstances. In cdc4 and cdc11 mutants, which produce multiple buds, Myo2p and Smy1p caps were found only in the subset of buds that had accumulations of actin. Mutations in actin or secretory genes perturb actin, Smy1p and Myo2p localization. The rearrangements of Myo2p and Smy1p correlate temporally with those of actin spots during the cell cycle, and upon temperature and osmotic shift. In contrast, microtubules are not grossly affected by these perturbations. Although wild-type Myo2p localization does not require Smy1p, Myo2p staining is brighter when SMY1 is overexpressed. The myo2 mutant, when shifted to restrictive temperature, shows a permanent loss in Myo2p localization and actin polarization, both of which can be restored by SMY1 overexpression. However, the lethality of MYO2 deletion is not overcome by SMY1 overexpression. We noted that the myo2 mutant can recover from osmotic shift (unlike actin mutants; Novick, P., and D. Botstein. 1985. Cell. 40:405-416). We have also determined that the myo2-66 allele encodes a Lys instead of a Glu at position 511, which lies at an actin-binding face in the motor domain.


1995 ◽  
Vol 15 (7) ◽  
pp. 3777-3785 ◽  
Author(s):  
S H MacKelvie ◽  
P D Andrews ◽  
M J Stark

In higher eukaryotes, the activity and specificity of the type 1 protein serine-threonine phosphatase (PP1) catalytic subunit is thought to be controlled by its association with a number of regulatory or targeting subunits. Here we describe the characterization of a gene encoding one such potential polypeptide in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The gene which we have isolated (termed SDS22) encodes a product with a high degree of sequence identity to the fission yeast sds22 protein, a known regulator of the mitotic function of PP1 in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Using two different criteria, we have demonstrated that Sds22p and the catalytic subunit of PP1 (Glc7p) interact in yeast cells. We have also generated a temperature-sensitive allele of GLC7 (glc7-12) which causes a block to the completion of mitosis at the restrictive temperature. Additional copies of SDS22 lead to allele-specific suppression of the glc7-12 mutant, strongly suggesting that the interaction between the two proteins is of functional significance. Sds22p is therefore likely to be the second example of a PP1 regulatory subunit identified in S. cerevisiae.


Genetics ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 157 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet R Mullen ◽  
Vivek Kaliraman ◽  
Samer S Ibrahim ◽  
Steven J Brill

Abstract The Saccharomyces cerevisiae Sgs1 protein is a member of the RecQ family of DNA helicases and is required for genome stability, but not cell viability. To identify proteins that function in the absence of Sgs1, a synthetic-lethal screen was performed. We obtained mutations in six complementation groups that we refer to as SLX genes. Most of the SLX genes encode uncharacterized open reading frames that are conserved in other species. None of these genes is required for viability and all SLX null mutations are synthetically lethal with mutations in TOP3, encoding the SGS1-interacting DNA topoisomerase. Analysis of the null mutants identified a pair of genes in each of three phenotypic classes. Mutations in MMS4 (SLX2) and SLX3 generate identical phenotypes, including weak UV and strong MMS hypersensitivity, complete loss of sporulation, and synthetic growth defects with mutations in TOP1. Mms4 and Slx3 proteins coimmunoprecipitate from cell extracts, suggesting that they function in a complex. Mutations in SLX5 and SLX8 generate hydroxyurea sensitivity, reduced sporulation efficiency, and a slow-growth phenotype characterized by heterogeneous colony morphology. The Slx5 and Slx8 proteins contain RING finger domains and coimmunoprecipitate from cell extracts. The SLX1 and SLX4 genes are required for viability in the presence of an sgs1 temperature-sensitive allele at the restrictive temperature and Slx1 and Slx4 proteins are similarly associated in cell extracts. We propose that the MMS4/SLX3, SLX5/8, and SLX1/4 gene pairs encode heterodimeric complexes and speculate that these complexes are required to resolve recombination intermediates that arise in response to DNA damage, during meiosis, and in the absence of SGS1/TOP3.


Genetics ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 160 (4) ◽  
pp. 1389-1400
Author(s):  
Xiao Ming Zuo ◽  
G Desmond Clark-Walker ◽  
Xin Jie Chen

Abstract The Saccharomyces cerevisiae MGM101 gene encodes a DNA-binding protein targeted to mitochondrial nucleoids. MGM101 is essential for maintenance of a functional ρ+ genome because meiotic segregants, with a disrupted mgm101 allele, cannot undergo more than 10 divisions on glycerol medium. Quantitative analysis of mtDNA copy number in a ρ+ strain carrying a temperature-sensitive allele, mgm101-1, revealed that the amount of mtDNA is halved each cell division upon a shift to the restrictive temperature. These data suggest that mtDNA replication is rapidly blocked in cells lacking MGM101. However, a small proportion of meiotic segregants, disrupted in MGM101, have ρ− genomes that are stably maintained. Interestingly, all surviving ρ− mtDNAs contain an ori/rep sequence. Disruption of MGM101 in hypersuppressive (HS) strains does not have a significant effect on the propagation of HS ρ− mtDNA. However, in petites lacking an ori/rep, disruption of MGM101 leads to either a complete loss or a dramatically decreased stability of mtDNA. This discriminatory effect of MGM101 suggests that replication of ρ+ and ori/rep-devoid ρ− mtDNAs is carried out by the same process. By contrast, the persistence of ori/rep-containing mtDNA in HS petites lacking MGM101 identifies a distinct replication pathway. The alternative mtDNA replication mechanism provided by ori/rep is independent of mitochondrial RNA polymerase encoded by RPO41 as a HS ρ− genome is stably maintained in a mgm101, rpo41 double mutant.


1994 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 6350-6360
Author(s):  
F Houman ◽  
C Holm

To investigate chromosome segregation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we examined a collection of temperature-sensitive mutants that arrest as large-budded cells at restrictive temperatures (L. H. Johnston and A. P. Thomas, Mol. Gen. Genet. 186:439-444, 1982). We characterized dbf8, a mutation that causes cells to arrest with a 2c DNA content and a short spindle. DBF8 maps to chromosome IX near the centromere, and it encodes a 36-kDa protein that is essential for viability at all temperatures. Mutational analysis reveals that three dbf8 alleles are nonsense mutations affecting the carboxy-terminal third of the encoded protein. Since all of these mutations confer temperature sensitivity, it appears that the carboxyl-terminal third of the protein is essential only at a restrictive temperature. In support of this conclusion, an insertion of URA3 at the same position also confers a temperature-sensitive phenotype. Although they show no evidence of DNA damage, dbf8 mutants exhibit increased rates of chromosome loss and nondisjunction even at a permissive temperature. Taken together, our data suggest that Dbf8p plays an essential role in chromosome segregation.


1992 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 4084-4092
Author(s):  
P C McCabe ◽  
H Haubruck ◽  
P Polakis ◽  
F McCormick ◽  
M A Innis

The rap1A gene encodes a 21-kDa, ras-related GTP-binding protein (p21rap1A) of unknown function. A close structural homolog of p21rap1A (65% identity in the amino-terminal two-thirds) is the RSR1 gene product (Rsr1p) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Although Rsr1p is not essential for growth, its presence is required for nonrandom selection of bud sites. To assess the similarity of these proteins at the functional level, wild-type and mutant forms of p21rap1A were tested for complementation of activities known to be fulfilled by Rsr1p. Expression of p21rap1A, like multicopy expression of RSR1, suppressed the conditional lethality of a temperature-sensitive cdc24 mutation. Point mutations predicted to affect the localization of p21rap1A or its ability to cycle between GDP and GTP-bound states disrupted suppression of cdc24ts, while other mutations in the 61-65 loop region improved suppression. Expression of p21rap1A could not, however, suppress the random budding phenotype of rsr1 cells. p21rap1A also apparently interfered with the normal activity of Rsrlp, causing random budding in diploid wild-type cells, suggesting an inability of p21rap1A to interact appropriately with Rsr1p regulatory proteins. Consistent with this hypothesis, we found an Rsr1p-specific GTPase-activating protein (GAP) activity in yeast membranes which was not active toward p21rap1A, indicating that p21rap1A may be predominantly GTP bound in yeast cells. Coexpression of human Rap1-specific GAP suppressed the random budding due to expression of p21rap1A or its derivatives, including Rap1AVal-12. Although Rap1-specific GAP stimulated the GTPase of Rsr1p in vitro, it did not dominantly interfere with Rsr1p function in vivo. A chimera consisting of Rap1A1-165::Rsr1p166-272 did not exhibit normal Rsr1p function in the budding pathway. These results indicated that p21rap1A and Rsr1p share at least partial functional homology, which may have implications for p21rap1A function in mammalian cells.


1993 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 3076-3083
Author(s):  
K Irie ◽  
M Takase ◽  
K S Lee ◽  
D E Levin ◽  
H Araki ◽  
...  

The PKC1 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae encodes a homolog of mammalian protein kinase C that is required for normal growth and division of yeast cells. We report here the isolation of the yeast MKK1 and MKK2 (for mitogen-activated protein [MAP] kinase-kinase) genes which, when overexpressed, suppress the cell lysis defect of a temperature-sensitive pkc1 mutant. The MKK genes encode protein kinases most similar to the STE7 product of S. cerevisiae, the byr1 product of Schizosaccharomyces pombe, and vertebrate MAP kinase-kinases. Deletion of either MKK gene alone did not cause any apparent phenotypic defects, but deletion of both MKK1 and MKK2 resulted in a temperature-sensitive cell lysis defect that was suppressed by osmotic stabilizers. This phenotypic defect is similar to that associated with deletion of the BCK1 gene, which is thought to function in the pathway mediated by PCK1. The BCK1 gene also encodes a predicted protein kinase. Overexpression of MKK1 suppressed the growth defect caused by deletion of BCK1, whereas an activated allele of BCK1 (BCK1-20) did not suppress the defect of the mkk1 mkk2 double disruption. Furthermore, overexpression of MPK1, which encodes a protein kinase closely related to vertebrate MAP kinases, suppressed the defect of the mkk1 mkk2 double mutant. These results suggest that MKK1 and MKK2 function in a signal transduction pathway involving the protein kinases encoded by PKC1, BCK1, and MPK1. Genetic epistasis experiments indicated that the site of action for MKK1 and MKK2 is between BCK1 and MPK1.


1982 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 361-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
A E Wheals

By using time-lapse photomicroscopy, the individual cycle times and sizes at bud emergence were measured for a population of saccharomyces cerevisiae cells growing exponentially under balanced growth conditions in a specially constructed filming slide. There was extensive variability in both parameters for daughter and parent cells. The data on 162 pairs of siblings were analyzed for agreement with the predictions of the transition probability hypothesis and the critical-size hypothesis of yeast cell proliferation and also with a model incorporating both of these hypotheses in tandem. None of the models accounted for all of the experimental data, but two models did give good agreement to all of the data. The wobbly tandem model proposes that cells need to attain a critical size, which is very variable, enabling them to enter a start state from which they exit with first order kinetics. The sloppy size control model suggests that cells have an increasing probability per unit time of traversing start as they increase in size, reaching a high plateau value which is less than one. Both models predict that the kinetics of entry into the cell division sequence will strongly depend on variability in birth size and thus will be quite different for daughters and parents of the asymmetrically dividing yeast cells. Mechanisms underlying these models are discussed.


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