scholarly journals Observations on ultracentrifuging wild-type and mutant (cdc2.33) cells of Schizosaccharomyces pombe

1989 ◽  
Vol 92 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-348
Author(s):  
A. Khar ◽  
J.M. Mitchison
Keyword(s):  
Schizosaccharomyces Pombe ◽  
Fission Yeast ◽  
Nuclear Dna ◽  
Restrictive Temperature ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Intense Fluorescence ◽  
Cytoplasmic Dna ◽  
Dnase Treatment

Ultracentrifuging (400,000 g for 4–6 h at 4 degrees C) living wild-type cells of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe moves the nucleus towards the ends of the cells but scarcely affects their viability. However, in the long cells produced by growing the mutant cdc2.33 for 4–6 h at the restrictive temperature (36.5 degrees C), ultracentrifuging (as above) gives an intense fluorescence with DAPI in about half of the cytoplasm in about 80% of the cells. This is probably nuclear DNA that has moved into the cytoplasm, both because of the DAPI stain and because it is removed by DNase treatment. These cells ultimately divide and are viable, and we suggest that the extended cytoplasmic DNA returns to the nucleus.

Arginase and sucrase potential in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe

1980 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 399-431
Author(s):  
T. Benitez ◽  
P. Nurse ◽  
J.M. Mitchison
Keyword(s):  
Dna Replication ◽  
Dna Synthesis ◽  
Schizosaccharomyces Pombe ◽  
Fission Yeast ◽  
Gene Dosage ◽  
Critical Ratio ◽  
Restrictive Temperature ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Synchronous Cultures ◽  
Short Period

The induction potentials of 2 enzymes, sucrase and arginase, have been measured in asynchronous and synchronous cultures of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. The effect on potential of inhibiting DNA synthesis is asynchronous cultures has been studied using 2 temperature-sensitive dcd mutants, one blocked in DNA replication and the other blocked in mitosis. The results show that despite inhibition of DNA synthesis, sucrase and arginase potential both continue to increase exponentially for at least a generation of growth after shifting the cdc mutants from the permissive to the restrictive temperature. A second method of inhibiting DNA synthesis, using deoxyadenosine, has also been tested. Cells treated with deoxyadenosine stop the increase in potential for a short period. However, experiments carried out using a cdc mutant together with deoxyadenosine show that the block to the increase in potential is due to a side effect of the inhibitor. It appears that increase in potential is not dependent upon continued DNA replication, and that gene dosage does not control potential in the normal cell cycle. This conclusion is supported by measurements on mutants of different cell sizes. potential is proportional to size (protein content per cell is asynchronous culture) and not to DNA content. Although potential is not gene limited in normal cells, it does appear to be so in the abnormally large cells produced by a cdc block. If cdc mutants of different sizes are grown asynchronously, and DNA synthesis is inhibited by a shift to the restrictive temperature, there is no increase in potential. This critical ratio is different for the 2 enzymes, but for each enzyme it is similar in all the mutants tested. When large cells (produced by a mutant block for 4.5 h) are shifted down in temperature, there are synchronous rounds of DNA synthesis and division and also step doublings in potential. In synchronous cultures of wild type cells, both enzymes show a stepwise doubling of potential at 0.2 of a cycle after DNA replication. In synchronous cultures of cdc mutants blocked either in replication or in mitosis, the potential steps continue with the normal timing observed in wild type cells. This shows that the steps are not dependent on the events of the DNA-division cycle but are controlled by another mechanism. Attainment of a critical size might be part of this mechanism, but tests with size mutants argue against this.

Synchronisation of mitosis in a cell division cycle mutant of Schizosaccharomyces pombe released from temperature arrest

1982 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen M. King ◽  
Jeremy S. Hyams
Keyword(s):  
Cell Division ◽  
Schizosaccharomyces Pombe ◽  
Temperature Shift ◽  
Cell Plate ◽  
Restrictive Temperature ◽  
C Cells ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Ultrastructural Morphology ◽  
Synchronous Cultures ◽  
A Cell

When cultures of Schizosaccharomyces pombe cdc 2.33 were shifted to 25 °C, after 5 h at the restrictive temperature of 35 °C, cells entered cycles of synchronous division as judged by the appearance of peaks in the cell plate index at 1.5, 3, and 4.75 h. The timing and ultrastructural morphology of events occurring in such synchronous cultures were examined. Most cells underwent mitosis between 10 and 50 min after the temperature shift, with a maximal value after approximately 30 min. The ultrastructure of mitosis was consistent with previous descriptions of this process in wild-type cells.

scholarly journals A temperature-sensitive mutation of the Schizosaccharomyces pombe gene nuc2+ that encodes a nuclear scaffold-like protein blocks spindle elongation in mitotic anaphase.

1988 ◽  
Vol 106 (4) ◽  
pp. 1171-1183 ◽  
Author(s):  
T Hirano ◽  
Y Hiraoka ◽  
M Yanagida
Keyword(s):  
Schizosaccharomyces Pombe ◽  
Gradient Centrifugation ◽  
Metaphase Plate ◽  
Temperature Sensitive ◽  
Restrictive Temperature ◽  
Permissive Temperature ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Spindle Elongation ◽  
Mutant Cells

A temperature-sensitive mutant nuc2-663 of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe specifically blocks mitotic spindle elongation at restrictive temperature so that nuclei in arrested cells contain a short uniform spindle (approximately 3-micron long), which runs through a metaphase plate-like structure consisting of three condensed chromosomes. In the wild-type or in the mutant cells at permissive temperature, the spindle is fully extended approximately 15-micron long in anaphase. The nuc2' gene was cloned in a 2.4-kb genomic DNA fragment by transformation, and its complete nucleotide sequence was determined. Its coding region predicts a 665-residues internally repeating protein (76.250 mol wt). By immunoblots using anti-sera raised against lacZ-nuc2+ fused proteins, a polypeptide (designated p67; 67,000 mol wt) encoded by nuc2+ is detected in the wild-type S. pombe extracts; the amount of p67 is greatly increased when multi-copy or high-expression plasmids carrying the nuc2+ gene are introduced into the S. pombe cells. Cellular fractionation and Percoll gradient centrifugation combined with immunoblotting show that p67 cofractionates with nuclei and is enriched in resistant structure that is insoluble in 2 M NaCl, 25 mM lithium 3,5'-diiodosalicylate, and 1% Triton but is soluble in 8 M urea. In nuc2 mutant cells, however, soluble p76, perhaps an unprocessed precursor, accumulates in addition to insoluble p67. The role of nuc2+ gene may be to interconnect nuclear and cytoskeletal functions in chromosome separation.

Human p53 inhibits growth in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

1992 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1405-1411
Author(s):  
J R Bischoff ◽  
D Casso ◽  
D Beach
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acid ◽  
Schizosaccharomyces Pombe ◽  
Fission Yeast ◽  
Amino Acid Residue ◽  
Mechanism Of Action ◽  
Mammalian Cells ◽  
Simple System ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Dominant Mutation ◽  
Mutant Forms

Overexpression of wild-type p53 in mammalian cells blocks growth. We show here that the overexpression of wild-type human p53 in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe also blocks growth, whereas the overexpression of mutant forms of p53 does not. The p53 polypeptide is located in the nucleus and is phosphorylated at both the cdc2 site and the casein kinase II site in S. pombe. A new dominant mutation of p53, resulting in the change of a cysteine to an arginine at amino acid residue 141, was identified. The results presented here demonstrate that S. pombe could provide a simple system for studying the mechanism of action of human p53.

scholarly journals Intramitotic controls in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe: the effect of cell size on spindle length and the timing of mitotic events.

1990 ◽  
Vol 110 (5) ◽  
pp. 1617-1621 ◽  
Author(s):  
I M Hagan ◽  
P N Riddle ◽  
J S Hyams
Keyword(s):  
Schizosaccharomyces Pombe ◽  
Fission Yeast ◽  
Average Length ◽  
Nuclear Migration ◽  
Yeast Cells ◽  
Reverse Direction ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Spindle Elongation ◽  
Anaphase B ◽  
In Cells

We have used a new cinemicroscopy technique in combination with antitubulin immunofluorescence microscopy to investigate the timing of mitotic events in cells of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe having lengths at division between 7 and 60 microns. Wild-type fission yeast cells divide at a length of 14 microns. Separation of daughter nuclei (anaphase B) proceeds at a rate of 1.6 +/- 0.2 microns min-1, until the spindle extends the length of the cell. Coincident with spindle depolymerization, the nuclei reverse direction and take up positions that will become the center of the two daughter cells. This post-mitotic nuclear migration occurs at a rate of 1.4 +/- 0.5 microns-1. In cells in which the weel+ gene is overexpressed fivefold and that have an average length at mitosis of 28 microns, the rate of nuclear separation was only slightly reduced but, as spindles in these cells measure 20-22 microns, the duration of anaphase B was extended by approximately 40%. By contrast, in the mutant weel.50, which divides at 7 microns, both the rate and duration of anaphase B were indistinguishable from wild type. Nuclei reach the ends of these cells earlier but remain there until a point corresponding to the time of postmitotic nuclear migration in wild type. Thus, the events of mitosis can be extended but not abbreviated. These results are discussed in terms of a mitotic termination control that monitors many different events, one of which is spindle elongation.

scholarly journals Phosphatidylethanolamine Is Required for Normal Cell Morphology and Cytokinesis in the Fission Yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe

2009 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 790-799 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Luo ◽  
Yasuhiro Matsuo ◽  
Galina Gulis ◽  
Haylee Hinz ◽  
Jana Patton-Vogt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Growth ◽  
Schizosaccharomyces Pombe ◽  
Fission Yeast ◽  
Minimal Medium ◽  
Growth Media ◽  
Decarboxylase Activity ◽  
Rich Medium ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Cellular Functions ◽  
Kennedy Pathway

ABSTRACT To investigate the contributions of phosphatidylethanolamine to the growth and morphogenesis of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, we have characterized three predicted genes in this organism, designated psd1, psd2, and psd3, encoding phosphatidylserine decarboxylases, which catalyze the conversion of phosphatidylserine to phosphatidylethanolamine in both eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms. S. pombe mutants carrying deletions in any one or two psd genes are viable in complex rich medium and synthetic defined minimal medium. However, mutants carrying deletions in all three psd genes (psd1-3Δ mutants) grow slowly in rich medium and are inviable in minimal medium, indicating that the psd1 to psd3 gene products share overlapping essential cellular functions. Supplementation of growth media with ethanolamine, which can be converted to phosphatidylethanolamine by the Kennedy pathway, restores growth to psd1-3Δ cells in minimal medium, indicating that phosphatidylethanolamine is essential for S. pombe cell growth. psd1-3Δ cells produce lower levels of phosphatidylethanolamine than wild-type cells, even in medium supplemented with ethanolamine, indicating that the Kennedy pathway can only partially compensate for the loss of phosphatidylserine decarboxylase activity in S. pombe. psd1-3Δ cells appear morphologically indistinguishable from wild-type S. pombe cells in medium supplemented with ethanolamine, but when cultured in nonsupplemented medium, they produce high frequencies of abnormally shaped cells as well as cells exhibiting severe septation defects, including multiple, mispositioned, deformed, and misoriented septa. Our results demonstrate that phosphatidylethanolamine is essential for cell growth and for normal cytokinesis and cellular morphogenesis in S. pombe, and they illustrate the usefulness of this model eukaryote for investigating potentially conserved biological and molecular functions of phosphatidylethanolamine.

scholarly journals Cell Surface Galactosylation Is Essential for Nonsexual Flocculation in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

1999 ◽  
Vol 181 (4) ◽  
pp. 1356-1359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naotaka Tanaka ◽  
Atsuro Awai ◽  
M. Shah Alam Bhuiyan ◽  
Kiyotaka Fujita ◽  
Hiroshi Fukui ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Cell Wall ◽  
Cell Surface ◽  
Schizosaccharomyces Pombe ◽  
Fission Yeast ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Liquid Media ◽  
Calcium Dependent ◽  
Yeast Mutants

ABSTRACT We have isolated fission yeast mutants that constitutively flocculate upon growth in liquid media. One of these mutants, thegsf1 mutant, was found to cause dominant, nonsexual, and calcium-dependent aggregation of cells into flocs. Its flocculation was inhibited by the addition of galactose but was not affected by the addition of mannose or glucose, unlike Saccharomyces cerevisiae FLO mutants. The gsf1 mutant coflocculated withSchizosaccharomyces pombe wild-type cells, while no coflocculation was found with galactose-deficient (gms1Δ) cells. Moreover, flocculation of the gsf1 mutant was also inhibited by addition of cell wall galactomannan from wild-type cells but not from gms1Δ cells. These results suggested that galactose residues in the cell wall glycoproteins may be receptors ofgsf1-mediated flocculation, and therefore cell surface galactosylation is required for nonsexual flocculation in S. pombe.

Pseudo-exponential growth in length of the fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe

1988 ◽  
Vol 34 (12) ◽  
pp. 1338-1343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hisao Miyata ◽  
Machiko Miyata ◽  
Byron F. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Schizosaccharomyces Pombe ◽  
Fission Yeast ◽  
Exponential Growth ◽  
Linear Growth ◽  
Normal Growth ◽  
Growth Patterns ◽  
Birth Length ◽  
Yeast Cells ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Constant Length

The growth patterns of individual cells of the fission yeast (Schizosaccharomyces pombe wild-type cells, strain 972 h−; cells exposed to hydroxyurea; and cdc mutants, 11-123, 2-33) were investigated by time-lapse photomicrography. Wild-type cells showed one, two, or three linear-growth segments followed by a constant-length stage. Cells with two segments were most frequent. Hydroxyurea cells that divided as oversized cells (about three times the birth length) had three linear-growth segments in a cycle. Mutant cdc11-123 cells did not divide but had a constant-length stage separating the cycles; both the first and second cycles consisted of two linear-growth segments, and cells were oversized at the second constant-length stage (about 3.5 times the birth length). Elongating cdc2-33 cells that did not divide and were oversized (about five times the birth length) while under observation, showed four linear-growth segments. Cells of all strains showed 30 to 40% increase in growth rate at the rate-change point and maintained approximate exponential (pseudo-exponential) growth. We conclude that the normal growth pattern of individual fission-yeast cells is the pseudo-exponential pattern.

Protein synthesis and its relation to the DNA-division cycle in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe

1984 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 199-210
Author(s):  
J. Creanor ◽  
J.M. Mitchison
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Protein Synthesis ◽  
Schizosaccharomyces Pombe ◽  
Protein Content ◽  
Fission Yeast ◽  
Nuclear Division ◽  
Restrictive Temperature ◽  
Tentative Conclusion ◽  
Synchronous Cultures

The rate of protein synthesis has been measured with pulse labels of [3H]tryptophan in synchronous and asynchronous cultures of cdc mutants of Schizosaccharomyces pombe shifted up to the restrictive temperature. The cell cycle related fluctuations in rate that occur in normal synchronous cultures vanish when nuclear division is blocked in synchronous cultures of cdc2 and cdc10. But they persist in cdc11 where nuclear division continues and cleavage is stopped. We conclude that nuclear division affects the rate of synthesis and that this effect is inhibitory and probably persists for the last 40% of the cycle. When nuclear division has been blocked, the rate of synthesis continues to increase until a plateau is reached where the rate remains constant. Three size mutants of cdc2 reach the plateau at the same average protein content per cell although their initial protein contents vary over a threefold range. Comparison of these results with those from cdc10 leads to the tentative conclusion that the plateau starts when the cells reach a critical protein/DNA ratio.

scholarly journals Separation of phenotypes in mutant alleles of the Schizosaccharomyces pombe cell-cycle checkpoint gene rad1+.

1995 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
pp. 1793-1805 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Kanter-Smoler ◽  
K E Knudsen ◽  
G Jimenez ◽  
P Sunnerhagen ◽  
S Subramani
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Dna Damage ◽  
Dna Replication ◽  
Schizosaccharomyces Pombe ◽  
Synthetic Lethality ◽  
Cell Cycle Checkpoint ◽  
Site Directed Mutagenesis ◽  
Restrictive Temperature ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Cycle Checkpoint

The Schizosaccharomyces pombe rad1+ gene is involved in the G2 DNA damage cell-cycle checkpoint and in coupling mitosis to completed DNA replication. It is also required for viability when the cdc17 (DNA ligase) or wee1 proteins are inactivated. We have introduced mutations into the coding regions of rad1+ by site-directed mutagenesis. The effects of these mutations on the DNA damage and DNA replication checkpoints have been analyzed, as well as their associated phenotypes in a cdc17-K42 or a wee1-50 background. For all alleles, the resistance to radiation or hydroxyurea correlates well with the degree of functioning of checkpoint pathways activated by these treatments. One mutation, rad1-S3, completely abolishes the DNA replication checkpoint while partially retaining the DNA damage checkpoint. As single mutants, the rad1-S1, rad1-S2, rad1-S5, and rad1-S6 alleles have a wild-type phenotype with respect to radiation sensitivity and checkpoint functions; however, like the rad1 null allele, the rad1-S1 and rad1-S2 alleles exhibit synthetic lethality at the restrictive temperature with the cdc17-K42 or the wee1-50 mutation. The rad1-S5 and rad1-S6 alleles allow growth at higher temperatures in a cdc17-K42 or wee1-50 background than does wild-type rad1+, and thus behave like "superalleles." In most cases both chromosomal and multi-copy episomal mutant alleles have been investigated, and the agreement between these two states is very good. We provide evidence that the functions of rad1 can be dissociated into three groups by specific mutations. Models for the action of these rad1 alleles are discussed. In addition, a putative negative regulatory domain of rad1 is identified.

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