Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Nucleic Acids Research logoLink to Nucleic Acids Research
. 1983 Jun 25;11(12):4049–4063. doi: 10.1093/nar/11.12.4049

Saccharomyces cerevisiae contains two discrete genes coding for the alpha-factor pheromone.

A Singh, E Y Chen, J M Lugovoy, C N Chang, R A Hitzeman, P H Seeburg
PMCID: PMC326024  PMID: 6306574

Abstract

Two genes, MF alpha 1 and MF alpha 2, coding for the alpha-factor in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae were identified by in situ colony hybridization of synthetic probes to a yeast genomic library. The probes were designed on the basis of the known amino acid sequence of the tridecapeptide alpha-pheromone. The nucleotide sequence revealed that the two genes, though similar in their overall structure, differ from each other in several striking ways. MF alpha 1 gene contains 4 copies of the coding sequence for the alpha-factor, which are separated by 24 nucleotides encoding the octapeptide Lys-Arg-Glu-Ala-Glu(or Asp)-Ala-Glu-Ala. The first alpha-factor coding block is preceded by a sequence for the hexapeptide Lys-Arg-Glu-Ala and 83 additional amino acids. MF alpha 2 gene contains coding sequences for two copies of the alpha-factor that differ from each other and from alpha-factor encoded by MF alpha 1 gene by a Gln leads to Asn and a Lys leads to Arg substitution. The first copy of the alpha-factor is preceded by a sequence coding for 87 amino acids which ends with Lys-Arg-Glu-Ala-Val-Ala-Asp-Ala. The coding blocks of the two copies of the pheromone are separated by the sequence for Lys-Arg-Glu-Ala-Asn-Ala-Asp-Ala. Thus, the alpha-factor can be derived from 2 different precursor proteins of 165 and 120 amino acids containing, respectively, 4 and 2 copies of the pheromone.

Full text

PDF
4049

Images in this article

4053Image
on p.4053
4060Image
on p.4060

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Backman K., Ptashne M., Gilbert W. Construction of plasmids carrying the cI gene of bacteriophage lambda. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1976 Nov;73(11):4174–4178. doi: 10.1073/pnas.73.11.4174. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Beggs J. D. Transformation of yeast by a replicating hybrid plasmid. Nature. 1978 Sep 14;275(5676):104–109. doi: 10.1038/275104a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bennetzen J. L., Hall B. D. Codon selection in yeast. J Biol Chem. 1982 Mar 25;257(6):3026–3031. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Birnboim H. C., Doly J. A rapid alkaline extraction procedure for screening recombinant plasmid DNA. Nucleic Acids Res. 1979 Nov 24;7(6):1513–1523. doi: 10.1093/nar/7.6.1513. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Bolivar F., Rodriguez R. L., Greene P. J., Betlach M. C., Heyneker H. L., Boyer H. W., Crosa J. H., Falkow S. Construction and characterization of new cloning vehicles. II. A multipurpose cloning system. Gene. 1977;2(2):95–113. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Bücking-Throm E., Duntze W., Hartwell L. H., Manney T. R. Reversible arrest of haploid yeast cells in the initiation of DNA synthesis by a diffusible sex factor. Exp Cell Res. 1973 Jan;76(1):99–110. doi: 10.1016/0014-4827(73)90424-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Ciejek E., Thorner J., Geier M. Solid phase peptide synthesis of alpha-factor, a yeast mating pheromone. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1977 Oct 10;78(3):952–961. doi: 10.1016/0006-291x(77)90514-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Clewell D. B., Helinski D. R. Properties of a supercoiled deoxyribonucleic acid-protein relaxation complex and strand specificity of the relaxation event. Biochemistry. 1970 Oct 27;9(22):4428–4440. doi: 10.1021/bi00824a026. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Comb M., Seeburg P. H., Adelman J., Eiden L., Herbert E. Primary structure of the human Met- and Leu-enkephalin precursor and its mRNA. Nature. 1982 Feb 25;295(5851):663–666. doi: 10.1038/295663a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Crea R., Horn T. Synthesis of oligonucleotides on cellulose by a phosphotriester method. Nucleic Acids Res. 1980 May 24;8(10):2331–2348. doi: 10.1093/nar/8.10.2331. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Duntze W., MacKay V., Manney T. R. Saccharomyces cerevisiae: a diffusible sex factor. Science. 1970 Jun 19;168(3938):1472–1473. doi: 10.1126/science.168.3938.1472. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. GLEN W. L., BARBER R., MCCONKEY H. M., GRANT G. A. Isolation of beta-dihydroequilin and alpha-dihydroequilenin from the urine of pregnant mares. Nature. 1956 Apr 21;177(4512):753–753. doi: 10.1038/177753a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Grunstein M., Hogness D. S. Colony hybridization: a method for the isolation of cloned DNAs that contain a specific gene. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1975 Oct;72(10):3961–3965. doi: 10.1073/pnas.72.10.3961. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Gubler U., Seeburg P., Hoffman B. J., Gage L. P., Udenfriend S. Molecular cloning establishes proenkephalin as precursor of enkephalin-containing peptides. Nature. 1982 Jan 21;295(5846):206–208. doi: 10.1038/295206a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Hartwell L. H. Synchronization of haploid yeast cell cycles, a prelude to conjugation. Exp Cell Res. 1973 Jan;76(1):111–117. doi: 10.1016/0014-4827(73)90425-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Hinnen A., Hicks J. B., Fink G. R. Transformation of yeast. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1978 Apr;75(4):1929–1933. doi: 10.1073/pnas.75.4.1929. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Holland J. P., Holland M. J. Structural comparison of two nontandemly repeated yeast glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase genes. J Biol Chem. 1980 Mar 25;255(6):2596–2605. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Holland J. P., Holland M. J. The primary structure of a glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J Biol Chem. 1979 Oct 10;254(19):9839–9845. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Julius D., Blair L., Brake A., Sprague G., Thorner J. Yeast alpha factor is processed from a larger precursor polypeptide: the essential role of a membrane-bound dipeptidyl aminopeptidase. Cell. 1983 Mar;32(3):839–852. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90070-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Kakidani H., Furutani Y., Takahashi H., Noda M., Morimoto Y., Hirose T., Asai M., Inayama S., Nakanishi S., Numa S. Cloning and sequence analysis of cDNA for porcine beta-neo-endorphin/dynorphin precursor. Nature. 1982 Jul 15;298(5871):245–249. doi: 10.1038/298245a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Kreil G., Haiml L., Suchanek G. Stepwise cleavage of the pro part of promelittin by dipeptidylpeptidase IV. Evidence for a new type of precursor--product conversion. Eur J Biochem. 1980 Oct;111(1):49–58. doi: 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1980.tb06073.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Kurjan J., Herskowitz I. Structure of a yeast pheromone gene (MF alpha): a putative alpha-factor precursor contains four tandem copies of mature alpha-factor. Cell. 1982 Oct;30(3):933–943. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(82)90298-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Mackay V., Manney T. R. Mutations affecting sexual conjugation and related processes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. I. Isolation and phenotypic characterization of nonmating mutants. Genetics. 1974 Feb;76(2):255–271. doi: 10.1093/genetics/76.2.255. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Mackay V., Manney T. R. Mutations affecting sexual conjugation and related processes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. II. Genetic analysis of nonmating mutants. Genetics. 1974 Feb;76(2):273–288. doi: 10.1093/genetics/76.2.273. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Mandel M., Higa A. Calcium-dependent bacteriophage DNA infection. J Mol Biol. 1970 Oct 14;53(1):159–162. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(70)90051-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Maxam A. M., Gilbert W. Sequencing end-labeled DNA with base-specific chemical cleavages. Methods Enzymol. 1980;65(1):499–560. doi: 10.1016/s0076-6879(80)65059-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Maxam A. M., Gilbert W. Sequencing end-labeled DNA with base-specific chemical cleavages. Methods Enzymol. 1980;65(1):499–560. doi: 10.1016/s0076-6879(80)65059-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Messing J., Crea R., Seeburg P. H. A system for shotgun DNA sequencing. Nucleic Acids Res. 1981 Jan 24;9(2):309–321. doi: 10.1093/nar/9.2.309. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Nakanishi S., Inoue A., Kita T., Nakamura M., Chang A. C., Cohen S. N., Numa S. Nucleotide sequence of cloned cDNA for bovine corticotropin-beta-lipotropin precursor. Nature. 1979 Mar 29;278(5703):423–427. doi: 10.1038/278423a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Noda M., Furutani Y., Takahashi H., Toyosato M., Hirose T., Inayama S., Nakanishi S., Numa S. Cloning and sequence analysis of cDNA for bovine adrenal preproenkephalin. Nature. 1982 Jan 21;295(5846):202–206. doi: 10.1038/295202a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Roberts J. L., Herbert E. Characterization of a common precursor to corticotropin and beta-lipotropin: cell-free synthesis of the precursor and identification of corticotropin peptides in the molecule. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Nov;74(11):4826–4830. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.11.4826. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Sanger F., Coulson A. R. The use of thin acrylamide gels for DNA sequencing. FEBS Lett. 1978 Mar 1;87(1):107–110. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(78)80145-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Sanger F., Nicklen S., Coulson A. R. DNA sequencing with chain-terminating inhibitors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Dec;74(12):5463–5467. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.12.5463. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Scherer G., Haag G., Duntze W. Mechanism of alpha factor biosynthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J Bacteriol. 1974 Aug;119(2):386–393. doi: 10.1128/jb.119.2.386-393.1974. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Southern E. M. Detection of specific sequences among DNA fragments separated by gel electrophoresis. J Mol Biol. 1975 Nov 5;98(3):503–517. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(75)80083-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Struck D. K., Lennarz W. J., Brew K. Primary structural requirements for the enzymatic formation of the N-glycosidic bond in glycoproteins. Studies with alpha-lactalbumin. J Biol Chem. 1978 Aug 25;253(16):5786–5794. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Struhl K., Stinchcomb D. T., Scherer S., Davis R. W. High-frequency transformation of yeast: autonomous replication of hybrid DNA molecules. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1979 Mar;76(3):1035–1039. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.3.1035. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Stötzler D., Duntze W. Isolation and characterization of four related peptides exhibiting alpha factor activity from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Eur J Biochem. 1976 May 17;65(1):257–262. doi: 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1976.tb10412.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. Tanaka T., Kita H., Murakami T., Narita K. Purification and amino acid sequence of mating factor from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J Biochem. 1977 Dec;82(6):1681–1687. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.jbchem.a131864. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  40. Wilkinson L. E., Pringle J. R. Transient G1 arrest of S. cerevisiae cells of mating type alpha by a factor produced by cells of mating type a. Exp Cell Res. 1974 Nov;89(1):175–187. doi: 10.1016/0014-4827(74)90200-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  41. Zalkin H., Yanofsky C. Yeast gene TRP5: structure, function, regulation. J Biol Chem. 1982 Feb 10;257(3):1491–1500. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Nucleic Acids Research are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES