scholarly journals Role of Fission Yeast Primase Catalytic Subunit in the Replication Checkpoint

2001 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominic J. F. Griffiths ◽  
Vivian F. Liu ◽  
Paul Nurse ◽  
Teresa S.-F. Wang

To investigate the cell cycle checkpoint response to aberrant S phase-initiation, we analyzed mutations of the two DNA primase subunit genes of Schizosaccharomyces pombe,spp1 + and spp2 +(S. pombe primase 1 and 2).spp1 + encodes the catalytic subunit that synthesizes the RNA primer, which is then utilized by Polα to synthesize the initiation DNA. Here, we reported the isolation of the fission yeast spp1 + gene and cDNA and the characterization of Spp1 protein and its cellular localization during the cell cycle. Spp1 is essential for cell viability, and thermosensitive mutants of spp1 + exhibit an allele-specific abnormal mitotic phenotype. Mutations ofspp1 + reduce the steady-state cellular levels of Spp1 protein and compromised the formation of Polα–primase complex. The spp1 mutant displaying an aberrant mitotic phenotype also fails to properly activate the Chk1 checkpoint kinase, but not the Cds1 checkpoint kinase. Mutational analysis of Polα has previously shown that activation of the replication checkpoint requires the initiation of DNA synthesis by Polα. Together, these have led us to propose that suboptimal cellular levels of polα–primase complex due to the allele-specific mutations of Spp1 might not allow Polα to synthesize initiation DNA efficiently, resulting in failure to activate a checkpoint response. Thus, a functional Spp1 is required for the Chk1-mediated, but not the Cds1-mediated, checkpoint response after an aberrant initiation of DNA synthesis.

1981 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 203-217
Author(s):  
D.P. Dickinson

The cell cycle of a growing cel is characterized by 3 main periodic events: DNA synthesis mitosis and cell division. These events generally lie in a dependent sequence, in which one event cannot occur unless preceding events have occurred. The existence of dependent sequences of events raises the possibility that at least some of the gene products involved in the events are synthesized in a dependent sequence parallel to the observable events. To test this hypothesis, the patterns of polypeptide synthesis were investigated in 2 types of cell cycle mutant of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe: temperature-sensitive cell cycle (ts cdc) mutants. which become blocked in cell cycle progress at the restrictive temperature; and wee I mutants, which are defective in size control over nuclear division, and which divide at a small size. Cells of mutants and wild-type cells were labelled with [35S[sulphate under conditions designed to maximize any differences between the labelling patterns of wild-type and mutant cell polypeptides. The polypeptides were then separated by O'Farrell 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis, and the patterns compared. Although both types of mutation affect cell cycle control, and cause a considerable alteration in the relative proportions of cellular components, an examination of over 700 polypeptides detected on gels revealed no qualitative differences between wild-type and mutant cell polypeptides. These results suggest that a large majority of the more abundant polypeptides in the growing cell are synthesized independently of cell cycle controls directly related to DNA synthesis and division, and that the synthesis of these polypeptides can occur in the absence of normal progress through the cell cycle. Dependent sequences of gene expression do not appear to make a significant contribution to total polypeptide synthesis during the cell cycle, or to the occurrence of periodic cell cycle events such as mitosis. It is suggested that such cell cycle events may result largely through the reorganization of existing cellular components, rather than by the synthesis of new ones. An unsuccessful attempt was made to detect the wee I gene product on gels by surveying a range of mutants for changes in an individual spot. The limitations of gel electrophoresis for this type of survey, and other cell cycle experiments, are discussed.


1978 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 399-411
Author(s):  
J. Creanor

Oxygen uptake was measured in synchronous cultures of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. The rate of oxygen uptake was found to increase in a step-wise manner at the beginning of the cycle and again in the middle of the cycle. The increases in rate were such that overall, oxygen uptake doubled in rate once per cell cycle. Addition of inhibitors of DNA synthesis or nuclear division to a synchronous culture did not affect the uptake of oxygen. In an induced synchronous culture, in which DNA synthesis, cell division, and nuclear division, but not ‘growth’ were synchronized, oxygen uptake increased continuously in rate and did not show the step-wise rises which were shown in the selection-synchronized culture. These results were compared with previous measurements of oxygen uptake in yeast and an explanation is suggested for the many different patterns which have been reported.


2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 1443-1455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lakxmi Subramanian ◽  
Bettina A. Moser ◽  
Toru M. Nakamura

ABSTRACT Fission yeast cells survive loss of the telomerase catalytic subunit Trt1 (TERT) through recombination-based telomere maintenance or through chromosome circularization. Although trt1Δ survivors with linear chromosomes can be obtained, they often spontaneously circularize their chromosomes. Therefore, it was difficult to establish genetic requirements for telomerase-independent telomere maintenance. In contrast, when the telomere-binding protein Taz1 is also deleted, taz1Δ trt1Δ cells are able to stably maintain telomeres. Thus, taz1Δ trt1Δ cells can serve as a valuable tool in understanding the regulation of telomerase-independent telomere maintenance. In this study, we show that the checkpoint kinase Tel1 (ATM) and the DNA repair complex Rad32-Rad50-Nbs1 (MRN) are required for telomere maintenance in taz1Δ trt1Δ cells. Surprisingly, Rap1 is also essential for telomere maintenance in taz1Δ trt1Δ cells, even though recruitment of Rap1 to telomeres depends on Taz1. Expression of catalytically inactive Trt1 can efficiently inhibit recombination-based telomere maintenance, but the inhibition requires both Est1 and Ku70. While Est1 is essential for recruitment of Trt1 to telomeres, Ku70 is dispensable. Thus, we conclude that Taz1, TERT-Est1, and Ku70-Ku80 prevent telomere recombination, whereas MRN-Tel1 and Rap1 promote recombination-based telomere maintenance. Evolutionarily conserved proteins in higher eukaryotic cells might similarly contribute to telomere recombination.


2009 ◽  
Vol 29 (15) ◽  
pp. 4025-4032 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Kiang ◽  
Christian Heichinger ◽  
Stephen Watt ◽  
Jürg Bähler ◽  
Paul Nurse

ABSTRACT To achieve faithful replication of the genome once in each cell cycle, reinitiation of S phase is prevented in G2 and origins are restricted from refiring within S phase. We have investigated the block to rereplication during G2 in fission yeast. The DNA synthesis that occurs when G2/M cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) activity is depleted has been assumed to be repeated rounds of S phase without mitosis, but this has not been demonstrated to be the case. We show here that on G2/M CDK depletion in G2, repeated S phases are induced, which are correlated with normal G1/S transcription and attainment of doublings in cell size. Mostly normal mitotic S-phase origins are utilized, although at different efficiencies, and replication is essentially equal across the genome. We conclude that CDK inhibits reinitiation of S phase during G2, and if G2/M CDK is depleted, replication results from induction of a largely normal S-phase program with only small differences in origin usage and efficiency.


2005 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 1651-1660 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel G. Pankratz ◽  
Susan L. Forsburg

Checkpoints operate during meiosis to ensure the completion of DNA synthesis and programmed recombination before the initiation of meiotic divisions. Studies in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe suggest that the meiotic response to DNA damage due to a failed replication checkpoint response differs substantially from the vegetative response, and may be influenced by the presence of homologous chromosomes. The checkpoint responses to DNA damage during fission yeast meiosis are not well characterized. Here we report that DNA damage induced during meiotic S-phase does not activate checkpoint arrest. We also find that in wild-type cells, markers for DNA breaks can persist at least to the first meiotic division. We also observe increased spontaneous S-phase damage in checkpoint mutants, which is repaired by recombination without activating checkpoint arrest. Our results suggest that fission yeast meiosis is exceptionally tolerant of DNA damage, and that some forms of spontaneous S-phase damage can be repaired by recombination without activating checkpoint arrest.


2003 ◽  
Vol 23 (16) ◽  
pp. 5939-5946 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael N. Boddy ◽  
Paul Shanahan ◽  
W. Hayes McDonald ◽  
Antonia Lopez-Girona ◽  
Eishi Noguchi ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Genome integrity is protected by Cds1 (Chk2), a checkpoint kinase that stabilizes arrested replication forks. How Cds1 accomplishes this task is unknown. We report that Cds1 interacts with Rad60, a protein required for recombinational repair in fission yeast. Cds1 activation triggers Rad60 phosphorylation and nuclear delocalization. A Rad60 mutant that inhibits regulation by Cds1 renders cells specifically sensitive to replication fork arrest. Genetic and biochemical studies indicate that Rad60 functions codependently with Smc5 and Smc6, subunits of an SMC (structural maintenance of chromosomes) complex required for recombinational repair. These studies indicate that regulation of Rad60 is an important part of the replication checkpoint response controlled by Cds1. We propose that control of Rad60 regulates recombination events at stalled forks.


2000 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Frei ◽  
Susan M. Gasser

We have examined the cellular function of Sgs1p, a nonessential yeast DNA helicase, homologs of which are implicated in two highly debilitating hereditary human diseases (Werner's and Bloom's syndromes). We show that Sgs1p is an integral component of the S-phase checkpoint response in yeast, which arrests cells due to DNA damage or blocked fork progression during DNA replication. DNA polε and Sgs1p are found in the same epistasis group and act upstream of Rad53p to signal cell cycle arrest when DNA replication is perturbed. Sgs1p is tightly regulated through the cell cycle, accumulates in S phase and colocalizes with Rad53p in S-phase-specific foci, even in the absence of fork arrest. The association of Rad53p with a chromatin subfraction is Sgs1p dependent, suggesting an important role for the helicase in the signal-transducing pathway that monitors replication fork progression.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nanda Kumar Sasi ◽  
Flavie Coquel ◽  
Yea-Lih Lin ◽  
Jeffrey P MacKeigan ◽  
Philippe Pasero ◽  
...  

AbstractCDC7-DBF4 kinase (DDK) is required to initiate DNA replication in eukaryotes by activating the replicative MCM helicase. DDK has also been reported to have diverse and sometimes conflicting roles in the replication checkpoint response in various organisms but the underlying mechanisms are far from settled. Here we show that human DDK promotes limited resection of newly synthesized DNA at stalled replication forks or sites of DNA damage to initiate replication checkpoint signaling. DDK is also required for efficient fork restart and G2/M cell cycle arrest. DDK exhibits genetic interactions with the ssDNA exonuclease EXO1, and we show that EXO1 is also required for nascent strand degradation following exposure to HU, raising the possibility that DDK regulates EXO1 directly. Thus, DDK has a primary and previously undescribed role in the replication checkpoint to promote ssDNA accumulation at stalled forks, which is required to initiate a robust checkpoint response and cell cycle arrest to maintain genome integrity.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document