scholarly journals Selection for early meiotic mutants in yeast.

Genetics ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 131 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
A P Mitchell ◽  
K S Bowdish

Abstract In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, only a/alpha cells can enter meiosis; a and alpha cells cannot. Because a/alpha cells are typically diploid and a and alpha cells are typically haploid, this cell type restriction ensures that only diploid cells enter meiosis. Entry into meiosis is accompanied by an increase in expression of the IME1 gene; the IME1 product (IME1) then activates IME2 and other meiotic genes. We have found that IME1 expression is toxic to starved haploid cells, presumably because IME1 directs them into meiosis. IME1 toxicity is greater in rad52 mutants, in which meiotic recombination causes lethal damage. Suppressors of IME1 toxicity include recessive mutations in two genes, RIM11 and RIM16 (Regulator of Inducer of Meiosis), that are required for IME1 to activate IME2 expression. RIM11 maps near CIN4 on chromosome XIII.

1990 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 6103-6113 ◽  
Author(s):  
H E Smith ◽  
S S Su ◽  
L Neigeborn ◽  
S E Driscoll ◽  
A P Mitchell

Two signals are required for meiosis and spore formation in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae: starvation and the MAT products a1 and alpha 2, which determine the a/alpha cell type. These signals lead to increased expression of the IME1 (inducer of meiosis) gene, which is required for sporulation and sporulation-specific gene expression. We report here the sequence of the IME1 gene and the consequences of IME1 expression from the GAL1 promoter. The deduced IME1 product is a 360-amino-acid protein with a tyrosine-rich C-terminal region. Expression of PGAL1-IME1 in vegetative a/alpha cells led to moderate accumulation of four early sporulation-specific transcripts (IME2, SPO11, SPO13, and HOP1); the transcripts accumulated 3- to 10-fold more after starvation. Two sporulation-specific transcripts normally expressed later (SPS1 and SPS2) did not accumulate until PGAL1-IME1 strains were starved, and the intact IME1 gene was not activated by PGAL1-IME1 expression. In a or alpha cells, which lack alpha 2 or a1, expression of PGAL1-IME1 led to the same pattern of IME2 and SPO13 expression as in a/alpha cells, as measured with ime2::lacZ and spo13::lacZ fusions. Thus, in wild-type strains, the increased expression of IME1 in starved a/alpha cells can account entirely for cell type control, but only partially for nutritional control, of early sporulation-specific gene expression. PGAL1-IME1 expression did not cause growing cells to sporulate but permitted efficient sporulation of amino acid-limited cells, which otherwise sporulated poorly. We suggest that IME1 acts primarily as a positive regulator of early sporulation-specific genes and that growth arrest is an independent prerequisite for execution of the sporulation program.


1997 ◽  
Vol 17 (12) ◽  
pp. 7029-7039 ◽  
Author(s):  
D K Nag ◽  
M P Koonce ◽  
J Axelrod

During meiosis, a diploid cell undergoes two rounds of nuclear division following one round of DNA replication to produce four haploid gametes. In yeast, haploid meiotic products are packaged into spores. To gain new insights into meiotic development and spore formation, we followed differential expression of genes in meiotic versus vegetatively growing cells in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Our results indicate that there are at least five different classes of transcripts representing genes expressed at different stages of the sporulation program. Here we describe one of these differentially expressed genes, SSP1, which plays an essential role in meiosis and spore formation. SSP1 is expressed midway through meiosis, and homozygous ssp1 diploid cells fail to sporulate. In the ssp1 mutant, meiotic recombination is normal but viability declines rapidly. Both meiotic divisions occur at the normal time; however, the fraction of cells completing meiosis is significantly reduced, and nuclei become fragmented soon after meiosis II. The ssp1 defect does not appear to be related to a microtubule-cytoskeletal-dependent event and is independent of two rounds of chromosome segregation. The data suggest that Ssp1 is likely to function in a pathway that controls meiotic nuclear divisions and coordinates meiosis and spore formation.


1987 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 2680-2690
Author(s):  
G McCaffrey ◽  
F J Clay ◽  
K Kelsay ◽  
G F Sprague

We have devised a screen for genes from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae whose expression is affected by cell type or by the mating pheromones. From this screen we identified a gene, FUS1, whose pattern of expression revealed interesting regulatory strategies and whose product was required for efficient cell fusion during mating. Transcription of FUS1 occurred only in a and alpha cells, not in a/alpha cells, where it was repressed by a1 X alpha 2, a regulatory activity present uniquely in a/alpha cells. Transcription of FUS1 showed an absolute requirement for the products of five STE genes, STE4, STE5, STE7, STE11, and STE12. Since the activators STE4, STE5, and STE12 are themselves repressed by a1 X alpha 2, the failure to express FUS1 in a/alpha cells is probably the result of a cascade of regulatory activities; repression of the activators by a1 X alpha 2 in turn precludes transcription of FUS1. In addition to regulation of FUS1 by cell type, transcription from the locus increased 10-fold or more when a or alpha cells were exposed to the opposing mating pheromone. To investigate the function of the Fus1 protein, we created fus1 null mutants. In fus1 X fus1 matings, the cells of a mating pair adhered tightly and appeared to form zygotes. However, the zygotes were abnormal. Within the conjugation bridge the contained a partition that prevented nuclear fusion and mixing of organelles. The predicted sequence of the Fus1 protein (deduced from the FUS1 DNA sequence) and subcellular fractionation studies with Fus1-beta-galactosidase hybrid proteins suggest that Fus1 is a membrane or secreted protein. Thus, Fus1 may be located at a position within the cell where it is poised to catalyze cell wall or plasma membrane fusion.


1992 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 1078-1086 ◽  
Author(s):  
J C Shah ◽  
M J Clancy

In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, sporulation occurs in response to nutritional and genetic signals. The process is initiated when nutrient availability limits mitotic growth, but only in MATa/MAT alpha diploid cells. Under these conditions, the cells express an activator of meiosis (IME1), which is required for the expression of early sporulation-specific genes. We describe a new gene, IME4, whose activity is essential for IME1 transcript accumulation and sporulation. The IME4 transcript was induced in starved MATa/MAT alpha diploids but not in other cell types. In addition, excess IME4 promoted sporulation in mat-insufficient cells. Thus, IME4 appears to activate IME1 in response to cell type and nutritional signals. We have also explored the interactions between IME4 and two genes that are known to regulate IME1 expression. Normally, cells that lack complete MAT information cannot sporulate; when such strains lack RME1 activity or contain the semidominant RES1-1 mutation, however, they can express IME1 and sporulate to low levels. Our results show that mat-insufficient strains containing rme1::LEU2 or RES1-1 bypass mutations still retain MAT control of IME4 expression. Even though IME4 levels remained low, the rme1::LEU2 and RES1-1 mutations allowed IME1 accumulation, implying that these mutations do not require IME4 to exert their effects. In accord with this interpretation, the RES1-1 mutation allowed IME1 accumulation in MATa/MAT alpha strains that contain ime4::LEU2 alleles. These strains still sporulated poorly, suggesting that IME4 plays a role in sporulation in addition to promoting IME1 transcript accumulation. IME4 is located between ADE5 and LYS5 on chromosome VII.


1987 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 2680-2690 ◽  
Author(s):  
G McCaffrey ◽  
F J Clay ◽  
K Kelsay ◽  
G F Sprague

We have devised a screen for genes from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae whose expression is affected by cell type or by the mating pheromones. From this screen we identified a gene, FUS1, whose pattern of expression revealed interesting regulatory strategies and whose product was required for efficient cell fusion during mating. Transcription of FUS1 occurred only in a and alpha cells, not in a/alpha cells, where it was repressed by a1 X alpha 2, a regulatory activity present uniquely in a/alpha cells. Transcription of FUS1 showed an absolute requirement for the products of five STE genes, STE4, STE5, STE7, STE11, and STE12. Since the activators STE4, STE5, and STE12 are themselves repressed by a1 X alpha 2, the failure to express FUS1 in a/alpha cells is probably the result of a cascade of regulatory activities; repression of the activators by a1 X alpha 2 in turn precludes transcription of FUS1. In addition to regulation of FUS1 by cell type, transcription from the locus increased 10-fold or more when a or alpha cells were exposed to the opposing mating pheromone. To investigate the function of the Fus1 protein, we created fus1 null mutants. In fus1 X fus1 matings, the cells of a mating pair adhered tightly and appeared to form zygotes. However, the zygotes were abnormal. Within the conjugation bridge the contained a partition that prevented nuclear fusion and mixing of organelles. The predicted sequence of the Fus1 protein (deduced from the FUS1 DNA sequence) and subcellular fractionation studies with Fus1-beta-galactosidase hybrid proteins suggest that Fus1 is a membrane or secreted protein. Thus, Fus1 may be located at a position within the cell where it is poised to catalyze cell wall or plasma membrane fusion.


1992 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 1078-1086
Author(s):  
J C Shah ◽  
M J Clancy

In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, sporulation occurs in response to nutritional and genetic signals. The process is initiated when nutrient availability limits mitotic growth, but only in MATa/MAT alpha diploid cells. Under these conditions, the cells express an activator of meiosis (IME1), which is required for the expression of early sporulation-specific genes. We describe a new gene, IME4, whose activity is essential for IME1 transcript accumulation and sporulation. The IME4 transcript was induced in starved MATa/MAT alpha diploids but not in other cell types. In addition, excess IME4 promoted sporulation in mat-insufficient cells. Thus, IME4 appears to activate IME1 in response to cell type and nutritional signals. We have also explored the interactions between IME4 and two genes that are known to regulate IME1 expression. Normally, cells that lack complete MAT information cannot sporulate; when such strains lack RME1 activity or contain the semidominant RES1-1 mutation, however, they can express IME1 and sporulate to low levels. Our results show that mat-insufficient strains containing rme1::LEU2 or RES1-1 bypass mutations still retain MAT control of IME4 expression. Even though IME4 levels remained low, the rme1::LEU2 and RES1-1 mutations allowed IME1 accumulation, implying that these mutations do not require IME4 to exert their effects. In accord with this interpretation, the RES1-1 mutation allowed IME1 accumulation in MATa/MAT alpha strains that contain ime4::LEU2 alleles. These strains still sporulated poorly, suggesting that IME4 plays a role in sporulation in addition to promoting IME1 transcript accumulation. IME4 is located between ADE5 and LYS5 on chromosome VII.


1990 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 6103-6113
Author(s):  
H E Smith ◽  
S S Su ◽  
L Neigeborn ◽  
S E Driscoll ◽  
A P Mitchell

Two signals are required for meiosis and spore formation in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae: starvation and the MAT products a1 and alpha 2, which determine the a/alpha cell type. These signals lead to increased expression of the IME1 (inducer of meiosis) gene, which is required for sporulation and sporulation-specific gene expression. We report here the sequence of the IME1 gene and the consequences of IME1 expression from the GAL1 promoter. The deduced IME1 product is a 360-amino-acid protein with a tyrosine-rich C-terminal region. Expression of PGAL1-IME1 in vegetative a/alpha cells led to moderate accumulation of four early sporulation-specific transcripts (IME2, SPO11, SPO13, and HOP1); the transcripts accumulated 3- to 10-fold more after starvation. Two sporulation-specific transcripts normally expressed later (SPS1 and SPS2) did not accumulate until PGAL1-IME1 strains were starved, and the intact IME1 gene was not activated by PGAL1-IME1 expression. In a or alpha cells, which lack alpha 2 or a1, expression of PGAL1-IME1 led to the same pattern of IME2 and SPO13 expression as in a/alpha cells, as measured with ime2::lacZ and spo13::lacZ fusions. Thus, in wild-type strains, the increased expression of IME1 in starved a/alpha cells can account entirely for cell type control, but only partially for nutritional control, of early sporulation-specific gene expression. PGAL1-IME1 expression did not cause growing cells to sporulate but permitted efficient sporulation of amino acid-limited cells, which otherwise sporulated poorly. We suggest that IME1 acts primarily as a positive regulator of early sporulation-specific genes and that growth arrest is an independent prerequisite for execution of the sporulation program.


Genetics ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 163 (4) ◽  
pp. 1273-1286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miki Shinohara ◽  
Kazuko Sakai ◽  
Akira Shinohara ◽  
Douglas K Bishop

Abstract Two RecA-like recombinases, Rad51 and Dmc1, function together during double-strand break (DSB)-mediated meiotic recombination to promote homologous strand invasion in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Two partially redundant proteins, Rad54 and Tid1/Rdh54, act as recombinase accessory factors. Here, tetrad analysis shows that mutants lacking Tid1 form four-viable-spore tetrads with levels of interhomolog crossover (CO) and noncrossover recombination similar to, or slightly greater than, those in wild type. Importantly, tid1 mutants show a marked defect in crossover interference, a mechanism that distributes crossover events nonrandomly along chromosomes during meiosis. Previous work showed that dmc1Δ mutants are strongly defective in strand invasion and meiotic progression and that these defects can be partially suppressed by increasing the copy number of RAD54. Tetrad analysis is used to show that meiotic recombination in RAD54-suppressed dmc1Δ cells is similar to that in tid1; the frequency of COs and gene conversions is near normal, but crossover interference is defective. These results support the proposal that crossover interference acts at the strand invasion stage of recombination.


Genetics ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 145 (3) ◽  
pp. 661-670 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qing-Qing Fan ◽  
Fei Xu ◽  
Michael A White ◽  
Thomas D Petes

In a wild-type strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a hotspot for meiotic recombination is located upstream of the HIS4 gene. An insertion of a 49-bp telomeric sequence into the coding region of HIS4 strongly stimulates meiotic recombination and the local formation of meiosis-specific double-strand DNA breaks (DSBs). When strains are constructed in which both hotspots are heterozygous, hotspot activity is substantially less when the hotspots are on the same chromosome than when they are on opposite chromosomes.


Genetics ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 157 (4) ◽  
pp. 1493-1502
Author(s):  
Richard D Gardner ◽  
Atasi Poddar ◽  
Chris Yellman ◽  
Penny A Tavormina ◽  
M Cristina Monteagudo ◽  
...  

Abstract We have measured the activity of the spindle checkpoint in null mutants lacking kinetochore activity in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We constructed deletion mutants for nonessential genes by one-step gene replacements. We constructed heterozygous deletions of one copy of essential genes in diploid cells and purified spores containing the deletion allele. In addition, we made gene fusions for three essential genes to target the encoded proteins for proteolysis (degron alleles). We determined that Ndc10p, Ctf13p, and Cep3p are required for checkpoint activity. In contrast, cells lacking Cbf1p, Ctf19p, Mcm21p, Slk19p, Cse4p, Mif2p, Mck1p, and Kar3p are checkpoint proficient. We conclude that the kinetochore plays a critical role in checkpoint signaling in S. cerevisiae. Spindle checkpoint activity maps to a discreet domain within the kinetochore and depends on the CBF3 protein complex.


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