EVIDENCE OF CHROMOSOMAL BREAKS NEAR THE MATING-TYPE LOCUS OF SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE THAT ACCOMPANY MATα x MATα MATINGS

Genetics ◽  
1981 ◽  
Vol 99 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 383-403 ◽  
Author(s):  
John H McCusker ◽  
James E Haber
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Distal Portion ◽  
Chromosome Loss ◽  
Chromosome Break ◽  
Type Locus ◽  
Distal Marker ◽  
Chromosomal Breaks ◽  
A Cell ◽  
Chromosome Iii ◽  
The Right

ABSTRACT In order for two heterothallic MATα haploids of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to mate, one parent must apparently become, at least transiently, an a-like cell. Only about 25% of the matings result from an actual transposition of MATa sequences to replace MATα, and about 1% result from a deletion joining MAT to the normally silent HMRa allele. The majority of matings occur after an apparent chromosome break that deletes MATα and all of the known markers more distal on the right arm of chromosome III.——The chrdmosome break occurs at or very near MAT, invariably leaving the distal marker tsml hemizygous, but the closely linked proximal marker cry1 usually is heterozygous. The resulting diploid containing the broken chromosome is mitotically unstable; about 10% of the colonies contain visible sectors in which the rest of the broken chromosome is lost. The region close to the breakpoint (i.g., cryl) is unusually active in recombination. About 20% of the intact homologues remaining after chromosome loss were gene-converted for cryl. In addition, the broken end participated in reciprocal recombination events that joined the chromosome to the distal portion of the intact homologous chromosome.——The unstable diploids may also become stable and no longer give rise to mitotic segregants. We have found two distinct ways in which stabilization occurs. Most often the diploid becomes euploid by a recombination event that yields a cell homozygous for all markers distal to (and sometimes including) cryl. In one of 9 cases SO far analyzed, the stable diploid was still hemizygous for MATα and for other markers distal to MAT. This last case is similar to the healing of broken chromosomes in maize described by MCCLINTOCK(1 939,1941,1951).

scholarly journals BISEXUAL MATING BEHAVIOR IN A DIPLOID OF SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE: EVIDENCE FOR GENETICALLY CONTROLLED NON-RANDOM CHROMOSOME LOSS DURING VEGETATIVE GROWTH

Genetics ◽  
1974 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
pp. 843-858
Author(s):  
James E Haber
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Mating Behavior ◽  
Mating Type ◽  
Vegetative Growth ◽  
Nuclear Gene ◽  
Chromosome Loss ◽  
Type Locus ◽  
Mating Efficiency ◽  
Single Mating ◽  
Chromosome Iii

ABSTRACT A diploid strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been isolated which exhabits bisexual mating behavior. The strain mates with either a or α strains with a relative mating efficiency of 1 to 2%. The efficiency of mating is correlated with the frequency with which subclones of this strain revert to a single mating type. Crosses of the bisexual diploid with a/a or α/α diploids yield bisexual segregants with a frequency of approximately 3%. Analysis of the segregation of the mating type alleles and other markers on chromosome III indicates that the primary event which leads to the bisexual phenotype is the loss of one homolog of chromosome III during vegetative growth to produce a monosomic (2n-1) diploid. Evidence is presented that the loss of chromosome I11 and possibly of other chromosomes during vegetative growth is affected by a recessive nuclear gene-her (hermaphrodite)—which is not closely linked to the mating type locus.

Homothallic mating type switching generates lethal chromosome breaks in rad52 strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

1981 ◽  
Vol 1 (6) ◽  
pp. 522-534
Author(s):  
B Weiffenbach ◽  
J E Haber
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Mating Type ◽  
Deoxyribonucleic Acid ◽  
Type Locus ◽  
Mating Type Switching ◽  
Lethal Event ◽  
Bona Fide ◽  
Chromosome Iii ◽  
Mat Locus ◽  
Type Information

In homothallic cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a or alpha mating type information at the mating type locus (MAT) is replaced by the transposition of the opposite mating type allele from HML alpha or HMRa. The rad52-1 mutation, which reduces mitotic and abolishes meiotic recombination, also affects homothallic switching (Malone and Esposito, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 77:503-507, 1980). We have found that both HO rad52 MATa and HO rad52 MAT alpha cells die. This lethality is suppressed by mutations that substantially reduce but do not eliminate homothallic conversions. These mutations map at or near the MAT locus (MAT alpha inc, MATa-inc, MATa stk1) or are unlinked to MAT (HO-1 and swi1). These results suggest that the switching event itself is involved in the lethality. With the exception of swi1, HO rad52 strains carrying one of the above mutations cannot convert mating type at all. MAT alpha rad52 HO swi1 strains apparently can switch MAT alpha to MATa. However, when we analyzed these a maters, we found that few, if any, of them were bona fide MATa cells. These a-like cells were instead either deleted for part of chromosome III distal to and including MAT or had lost the entire third chromosome. Approximately 30% of the time, an a-like cell could be repaired to a normal MATa genotype if the cell was mated to a RAD52 MAT alpha-inc strain. The effects of rad52 were also studied in mata/MAT alpha-inc rad52/rad52 ho/HO diploids. When this diploid attempted to switch mata to MATa, an unstable broken chromosome was generated in nearly every cell. These studies suggest that homothallic switching involves the formation of a double-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid break or a structure which is labile in rad52 cells and results in a broken chromosome. We propose that the production of a double-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid break is the lethal event in rad52 HO cells.

Effects of excess centromeres and excess telomeres on chromosome loss rates

1991 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 2919-2928
Author(s):  
K W Runge ◽  
R J Wellinger ◽  
V A Zakian
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Cell Division ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Fluctuation Analysis ◽  
Chromosome Stability ◽  
Chromosome Loss ◽  
Division Iii ◽  
Daughter Cells ◽  
Chromosome Iii ◽  
Linear Chromosomes

The linear chromosomes of eukaryotes contain specialized structures to ensure their faithful replication and segregation to daughter cells. Two of these structures, centromeres and telomeres, are limited, respectively, to one and two copies per chromosome. It is possible that the proteins that interact with centromere and telomere DNA sequences are present in limiting amounts and could be competed away from the chromosomal copies of these elements by additional copies introduced on plasmids. We have introduced excess centromeres and telomeres into Saccharomyces cerevisiae and quantitated their effects on the rates of loss of chromosome III and chromosome VII by fluctuation analysis. We show that (i) 600 new telomeres have no effect on chromosome loss; (ii) an average of 25 extra centromere DNA sequences increase the rate of chromosome III loss from 0.4 x 10(-4) events per cell division to 1.3 x 10(-3) events per cell division; (iii) centromere DNA (CEN) sequences on circular vectors destabilize chromosomes more effectively than do CEN sequences on 15-kb linear vectors, and transcribed CEN sequences have no effect on chromosome stability. We discuss the different effects of extra centromere and telomere DNA sequences on chromosome stability in terms of how the cell recognizes these two chromosomal structures.

scholarly journals Isolation and genetic analysis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutants supersensitive to G1 arrest by a factor and alpha factor pheromones.

1982 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
R K Chan ◽  
C A Otte
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Mating Type ◽  
Solid Medium ◽  
G1 Arrest ◽  
Alpha Cells ◽  
Opposite Mating Type ◽  
Alpha Factor ◽  
Complementation Groups ◽  
Chromosome Iii ◽  
The Right

Eight independently isolated mutants which are supersensitive (Sst-) to the G1 arrest induced by the tridecapeptide pheromone alpha factor were identified by screening mutagenized Saccharomyces cerevisiae MATa cells on solid medium for increased growth inhibition by alpha factor. These mutants carried lesions in two complementation groups, sst1 and sst2. Mutations at the sst1 locus were mating type specific: MATa sst1 cells were supersensitive to alpha factor, but MAT alpha sst1 cells were not supersensitive to a factor. In contrast, mutations at the sst2 locus conferred supersensitivity to the pheromones of the opposite mating type on both MATa and MAT alpha cells. Even in the absence of added alpha pheromone, about 10% of the cells in exponentially growing cultures of MATa strains carrying any of three different alleles of sst2 (including the ochre mutation sst2-4) had the aberrant morphology ("shmoo" shape) that normally develops only after MATa cells are exposed to alpha factor. This "self-shmooing" phenotype was genetically linked to the sst2 mutations, although the leakiest allele isolated (sst2-3) did not display this characteristic. Normal MATa/MAT alpha diploids do not respond to pheromones; diploids homozygous for an sst2 mutation (MATa/MAT alpha sst2-1/sst2-1) were still insensitive to alpha factor. The sst1 gene was mapped to within 6.9 centimorgans of his6 on chromosome IX. The sst2 gene was unlinked to sst1, was not centromere linked, and was shown to be neither linked to nor centromere distal to MAT on the right arm of chromosome III.

scholarly journals Homothallic mating type switching generates lethal chromosome breaks in rad52 strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

1981 ◽  
Vol 1 (6) ◽  
pp. 522-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
B Weiffenbach ◽  
J E Haber
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Mating Type ◽  
Deoxyribonucleic Acid ◽  
Type Locus ◽  
Mating Type Switching ◽  
Lethal Event ◽  
Bona Fide ◽  
Chromosome Iii ◽  
Mat Locus ◽  
Type Information

In homothallic cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a or alpha mating type information at the mating type locus (MAT) is replaced by the transposition of the opposite mating type allele from HML alpha or HMRa. The rad52-1 mutation, which reduces mitotic and abolishes meiotic recombination, also affects homothallic switching (Malone and Esposito, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 77:503-507, 1980). We have found that both HO rad52 MATa and HO rad52 MAT alpha cells die. This lethality is suppressed by mutations that substantially reduce but do not eliminate homothallic conversions. These mutations map at or near the MAT locus (MAT alpha inc, MATa-inc, MATa stk1) or are unlinked to MAT (HO-1 and swi1). These results suggest that the switching event itself is involved in the lethality. With the exception of swi1, HO rad52 strains carrying one of the above mutations cannot convert mating type at all. MAT alpha rad52 HO swi1 strains apparently can switch MAT alpha to MATa. However, when we analyzed these a maters, we found that few, if any, of them were bona fide MATa cells. These a-like cells were instead either deleted for part of chromosome III distal to and including MAT or had lost the entire third chromosome. Approximately 30% of the time, an a-like cell could be repaired to a normal MATa genotype if the cell was mated to a RAD52 MAT alpha-inc strain. The effects of rad52 were also studied in mata/MAT alpha-inc rad52/rad52 ho/HO diploids. When this diploid attempted to switch mata to MATa, an unstable broken chromosome was generated in nearly every cell. These studies suggest that homothallic switching involves the formation of a double-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid break or a structure which is labile in rad52 cells and results in a broken chromosome. We propose that the production of a double-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid break is the lethal event in rad52 HO cells.

Chromosome instability mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae that are defective in microtubule-mediated processes

1990 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 223-234
Author(s):  
M A Hoyt ◽  
T Stearns ◽  
D Botstein
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Chromosome Instability ◽  
Null Alleles ◽  
Cold Sensitivity ◽  
Phenotypic Characterization ◽  
Chromosome Loss ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Microtubule Stability ◽  
Chromosome Iii ◽  
Yeast Genes

By using a multiply marked supernumerary chromosome III as an indicator, we isolated mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae that display increased rates of chromosome loss. In addition to mutations in the tubulin-encoding TUB genes, we found mutations in the CIN1, CIN2, and CIN4 genes. These genes have been defined independently by mutations causing benomyl supersensitivity and are distinct from other known yeast genes that affect chromosome segregation. Detailed phenotypic characterization of cin mutants revealed several other phenotypes similar to those of tub mutants. Null alleles of these genes caused cold sensitivity for viability. At 11 degrees C, cin mutants arrest at the mitosis stage of their cell cycle because of loss of most microtubule structure. cin1, cin2, and cin4 mutations also cause defects in two other microtubule-mediated processes, nuclear migration and nuclear fusion (karyogamy). Overproduction of the CIN1 gene product was found to cause the same phenotype as loss of function, supersensitivity to benomyl. Our findings suggest that the CIN1, CIN2, and CIN4 proteins contribute to microtubule stability either by regulating the activity of a yeast microtubule component or as structural components of microtubules.

Isolation and genetic analysis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutants supersensitive to G1 arrest by a factor and alpha factor pheromones

1982 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-20
Author(s):  
R K Chan ◽  
C A Otte
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Mating Type ◽  
Solid Medium ◽  
G1 Arrest ◽  
Alpha Cells ◽  
Opposite Mating Type ◽  
Alpha Factor ◽  
Complementation Groups ◽  
Chromosome Iii ◽  
The Right

Eight independently isolated mutants which are supersensitive (Sst-) to the G1 arrest induced by the tridecapeptide pheromone alpha factor were identified by screening mutagenized Saccharomyces cerevisiae MATa cells on solid medium for increased growth inhibition by alpha factor. These mutants carried lesions in two complementation groups, sst1 and sst2. Mutations at the sst1 locus were mating type specific: MATa sst1 cells were supersensitive to alpha factor, but MAT alpha sst1 cells were not supersensitive to a factor. In contrast, mutations at the sst2 locus conferred supersensitivity to the pheromones of the opposite mating type on both MATa and MAT alpha cells. Even in the absence of added alpha pheromone, about 10% of the cells in exponentially growing cultures of MATa strains carrying any of three different alleles of sst2 (including the ochre mutation sst2-4) had the aberrant morphology ("shmoo" shape) that normally develops only after MATa cells are exposed to alpha factor. This "self-shmooing" phenotype was genetically linked to the sst2 mutations, although the leakiest allele isolated (sst2-3) did not display this characteristic. Normal MATa/MAT alpha diploids do not respond to pheromones; diploids homozygous for an sst2 mutation (MATa/MAT alpha sst2-1/sst2-1) were still insensitive to alpha factor. The sst1 gene was mapped to within 6.9 centimorgans of his6 on chromosome IX. The sst2 gene was unlinked to sst1, was not centromere linked, and was shown to be neither linked to nor centromere distal to MAT on the right arm of chromosome III.

scholarly journals Linear Derivatives of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Chromosome III Can Be Maintained in the Absence of Autonomously Replicating Sequence Elements

2007 ◽  
Vol 27 (13) ◽  
pp. 4652-4663 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Dershowitz ◽  
Marylynn Snyder ◽  
Mohammed Sbia ◽  
Joan H. Skurnick ◽  
Loke Y. Ong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Loss Rate ◽  
Replication Initiation ◽  
Replication Origins ◽  
Additional Increase ◽  
Autonomously Replicating Sequence ◽  
Sequence Elements ◽  
Chromosome Fragments ◽  
Chromosome Iii ◽  
The Right

ABSTRACT Replication origins in Saccharomyces cerevisiae are spaced at intervals of approximately 40 kb. However, both measurements of replication fork rate and studies of hypomorphic alleles of genes encoding replication initiation proteins suggest the question of whether replication origins are more closely spaced than should be required. We approached this question by systematically deleting replicators from chromosome III. The first significant increase in loss rate detected for the 315-kb full-length chromosome occurred only after all five efficient chromosomal replicators in the left two-thirds of the chromosome (ARS305, ARS306, ARS307, ARS309, and ARS310) had been deleted. The removal of the inefficient replicator ARS308 from this originless region caused little or no additional increase in loss rate. Chromosome fragmentations that removed the normally inactive replicators on the left end of the chromosome or the replicators distal to ARS310 on the right arm showed that both groups of replicators contribute significantly to the maintenance of the originless chromosome. Surprisingly, a 142-kb derivative of chromosome III, lacking all sequences that function as autonomously replicating sequence elements in plasmids, replicated and segregated properly 97% of the time. Both the replication initiation protein ORC and telomeres or a linear topology were required for the maintenance of chromosome fragments lacking replicators.

scholarly journals Mechanism of MAT alpha donor preference during mating-type switching of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 657-668 ◽  
Author(s):  
X Wu ◽  
J K Moore ◽  
J E Haber
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Mating Type ◽  
Strand Break ◽  
Normal Donor ◽  
Alpha Cells ◽  
Cis Acting ◽  
Mating Type Switching ◽  
Chromosome Iii ◽  
The Right ◽  
Donor Preference

During homothallic switching of the mating-type (MAT) gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a- or alpha-specific sequences are replaced by opposite mating-type sequences copied from one of two silent donor loci, HML alpha or HMRa. The two donors lie at opposite ends of chromosome III, approximately 190 and 90 kb, respectively, from MAT. MAT alpha cells preferentially recombine with HMR, while MATa cells select HML. The mechanisms of donor selection are different for the two mating types. MATa cells, deleted for the preferred HML gene, efficiently use HMR as a donor. However, in MAT alpha cells, HML is not an efficient donor when HMR is deleted; consequently, approximately one-third of HO HML alpha MAT alpha hmr delta cells die because they fail to repair the HO endonuclease-induced double-strand break at MAT. MAT alpha donor preference depends not on the sequence differences between HML and HMR or their surrounding regions but on their chromosomal locations. Cloned HMR donors placed at three other locations to the left of MAT, on either side of the centromere, all fail to act as efficient donors. When the donor is placed 37 kb to the left of MAT, its proximity overcomes normal donor preference, but this position is again inefficiently used when additional DNA is inserted in between the donor and MAT to increase the distance to 62 kb. Donors placed to the right of MAT are efficiently recruited, and in fact a donor situated 16 kb proximal to HMR is used in preference to HMR. The cis-acting chromosomal determinants of MAT alpha preference are not influenced by the chromosomal orientation of MAT or by sequences as far as 6 kb from HMR. These data argue that there is an alpha-specific mechanism to inhibit the use of donors to the left of MAT alpha, causing the cell to recombine most often with donors to the right of MAT alpha.

scholarly journals High-Resolution Structural Analysis of Chromatin at Specific Loci: Saccharomyces cerevisiae Silent Mating Type Locus HMLα

1998 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 5392-5403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerstin Weiss ◽  
Robert T. Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Mating Type ◽  
Chromatin Structure ◽  
Transcriptional Repression ◽  
Order Structure ◽  
Histone H4 ◽  
Type Locus ◽  
Transcription Start Sites ◽  
Chromosome Iii ◽  
Nucleotide Resolution

ABSTRACT Genetic studies have suggested that chromatin structure is involved in repression of the silent mating type loci in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Chromatin mapping at nucleotide resolution of the transcriptionally silent HMLα and the activeMATα shows that unique organized chromatin structure characterizes the silent state of HMLα. Precisely positioned nucleosomes abutting the silencers extend over the α1 and α2 coding regions. The HO endonuclease recognition site, nuclease hypersensitive at MATα, is protected atHMLα. Although two precisely positioned nucleosomes incorporate transcription start sites at HMLα, the promoter region of the α1 and α2 genes is nucleosome free and more nuclease sensitive in the repressed than in the transcribed locus. Mutations in genes essential for HML silencing disrupt the nucleosome array near HML-I but not in the vicinity of HML-E, which is closer to the telomere of chromosome III. At the promoter and the HO site, the structure of HMLα in Sir protein and histone H4 N-terminal deletion mutants is identical to that of the transcriptionally active MATα. The discontinuous chromatin structure of HMLα contrasts with the continuous array of nucleosomes found at repressed a-cell-specific genes and the recombination enhancer. Punctuation at HMLα may be necessary for higher-order structure or karyoskeleton interactions. The unique chromatin architecture of HMLα may relate to the combined requirements of transcriptional repression and recombinational competence.

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