Characterization of S. cerevisiae Cwc15p. (A) The ClustalW 1.6 program (22, 67) was used to align Cwc15-related proteins from H. sapiens (Hs) (Q9UI29), D. melanogaster (Dm) (Q9V3B6), C. elegans (Ce) (O45766), A. thaliana (At) (Q9LK52), S. pombe (Sp) (Cwf15p) (O74817), and S. cerevisiae (Sc) (Cwc15p) (Q03772). Residues found to be identical or similar to those of human CWF15 are highlighted on a solid background or shaded, respectively. (B) prp19-1 and cwc15::kanr strains are synthetically lethal. A CEN URA3-marked plasmid carrying the PRP19 gene was introduced into a MATa/α prp19-1/PRP19 cwc15::kanr heterozygote prior to sporulation. A prp19-1 cwc15::kanr double-mutant strain expressing PRP19 from a URA3-based plasmid was isolated, struck to synthetic complete medium containing dextrose (SD) without Ura (SD − Ura) (left panel) or SD with Ura plus 5-fluoroorotic acid (SD + 5-FOA) (right panel), and incubated for 3 days at 25°C.