Skip to main content
PMC home page
The EMBO Journal logoLink to The EMBO Journal
. 1991 Dec;10(12):3743–3751. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1991.tb04943.x

The Schizosaccharomyces pombe mam2 gene encodes a putative pheromone receptor which has a significant homology with the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Ste2 protein.

K Kitamura 1, C Shimoda 1
PMCID: PMC453109  PMID: 1657593

Abstract

The fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe has two mating-types, h+ (P) and h- (M). The mam2 mutant exhibits an h(-)-specific sterile phenotype. Nucleotide sequencing of the mam2 gene isolated from an S. pombe genomic library revealed an open reading frame composed of 348 amino acids. The deduced mam2 product is a hydrophobic protein of 39 kDa that has significant sequence similarity (26.3% for identical amino acids) with the transmembrane domains of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae STE2 product, the alpha-pheromone receptor. Hydropathicity analysis suggests that the Mam2 protein contains seven possible membrane-spanning domains and a carboxy-terminal hydrophilic region. The mam2 gene was disrupted and found to be non-essential for growth. An h- haploid strain harbouring this disrupted null allele failed to respond to the pheromone of h+ cells, P-factor. These observations imply that the mam2 gene encodes a receptor for P-factor. Transcription of mam2 was induced only when strains containing functional mat1-M allele were cultured under conditions of nitrogen starvation. The mam2 gene was also transcribed in h+/h- diploid strains. The fact that the map1/mam2 homozygous diploid cells are incapable of sporulation implies that the pheromone signalling system is necessary for sporulation in diploid cells.

Full text

PDF
3751

Images in this article

3744Image
on p.3744
3746Image
on p.3746
3747Image
on p.3747
3747Image
on p.3747
3748Image
on p.3748
3748Image
on p.3748

Selected References

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

  1. Beach D., Piper M., Nurse P. Construction of a Schizosaccharomyces pombe gene bank in a yeast bacterial shuttle vector and its use to isolate genes by complementation. Mol Gen Genet. 1982;187(2):326–329. doi: 10.1007/BF00331138. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Botstein D., Falco S. C., Stewart S. E., Brennan M., Scherer S., Stinchcomb D. T., Struhl K., Davis R. W. Sterile host yeasts (SHY): a eukaryotic system of biological containment for recombinant DNA experiments. Gene. 1979 Dec;8(1):17–24. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(79)90004-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Burkholder A. C., Hartwell L. H. The yeast alpha-factor receptor: structural properties deduced from the sequence of the STE2 gene. Nucleic Acids Res. 1985 Dec 9;13(23):8463–8475. doi: 10.1093/nar/13.23.8463. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Dietzel C., Kurjan J. The yeast SCG1 gene: a G alpha-like protein implicated in the a- and alpha-factor response pathway. Cell. 1987 Sep 25;50(7):1001–1010. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90166-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Dolan J. W., Kirkman C., Fields S. The yeast STE12 protein binds to the DNA sequence mediating pheromone induction. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989 Aug;86(15):5703–5707. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.15.5703. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Egel R., Egel-Mitani M. Premeiotic DNA synthesis in fission yeast. Exp Cell Res. 1974 Sep;88(1):127–134. doi: 10.1016/0014-4827(74)90626-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Egel R. Genes involved in mating type expression of fission yeast. Mol Gen Genet. 1973 May 28;122(4):339–343. doi: 10.1007/BF00269434. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Egel R., Nielsen O., Weilguny D. Sexual differentiation in fission yeast. Trends Genet. 1990 Nov;6(11):369–373. doi: 10.1016/0168-9525(90)90279-f. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Eisenberg D., Weiss R. M., Terwilliger T. C. The hydrophobic moment detects periodicity in protein hydrophobicity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Jan;81(1):140–144. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.1.140. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Fujioka H., Shimoda C. A mating-type-specific sterility gene map1 is required for transcription of a mating-type gene mat1-Pi in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. FEMS Microbiol Lett. 1989 Jul 1;51(1):45–48. doi: 10.1016/0378-1097(89)90075-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Fukui Y., Kaziro Y., Yamamoto M. Mating pheromone-like diffusible factor released by Schizosaccharomyces pombe. EMBO J. 1986 Aug;5(8):1991–1993. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1986.tb04454.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Fukui Y., Kozasa T., Kaziro Y., Takeda T., Yamamoto M. Role of a ras homolog in the life cycle of Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Cell. 1986 Jan 31;44(2):329–336. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90767-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Hartig A., Holly J., Saari G., MacKay V. L. Multiple regulation of STE2, a mating-type-specific gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol Cell Biol. 1986 Jun;6(6):2106–2114. doi: 10.1128/mcb.6.6.2106. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Henikoff S. Unidirectional digestion with exonuclease III creates targeted breakpoints for DNA sequencing. Gene. 1984 Jun;28(3):351–359. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(84)90153-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Hereford L., Fahrner K., Woolford J., Jr, Rosbash M., Kaback D. B. Isolation of yeast histone genes H2A and H2B. Cell. 1979 Dec;18(4):1261–1271. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(79)90237-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Iino Y., Yamamoto M. Negative control for the initiation of meiosis in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 Apr;82(8):2447–2451. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.8.2447. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Jantzen H. M., Admon A., Bell S. P., Tjian R. Nucleolar transcription factor hUBF contains a DNA-binding motif with homology to HMG proteins. Nature. 1990 Apr 26;344(6269):830–836. doi: 10.1038/344830a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Kelly M., Burke J., Smith M., Klar A., Beach D. Four mating-type genes control sexual differentiation in the fission yeast. EMBO J. 1988 May;7(5):1537–1547. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1988.tb02973.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Kyte J., Doolittle R. F. A simple method for displaying the hydropathic character of a protein. J Mol Biol. 1982 May 5;157(1):105–132. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(82)90515-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Lipman D. J., Pearson W. R. Rapid and sensitive protein similarity searches. Science. 1985 Mar 22;227(4693):1435–1441. doi: 10.1126/science.2983426. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Lund P. M., Hasegawa Y., Kitamura K., Shimoda C., Fukui Y., Yamamoto M. Mapping of the ras1 gene of Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Mol Gen Genet. 1987 Oct;209(3):627–629. doi: 10.1007/BF00331175. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Maeda T., Mochizuki N., Yamamoto M. Adenylyl cyclase is dispensable for vegetative cell growth in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Oct;87(20):7814–7818. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.20.7814. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. McLeod M., Beach D. A specific inhibitor of the ran1+ protein kinase regulates entry into meiosis in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Nature. 1988 Apr 7;332(6164):509–514. doi: 10.1038/332509a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. McLeod M., Stein M., Beach D. The product of the mei3+ gene, expressed under control of the mating-type locus, induces meiosis and sporulation in fission yeast. EMBO J. 1987 Mar;6(3):729–736. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1987.tb04814.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Miyajima I., Nakafuku M., Nakayama N., Brenner C., Miyajima A., Kaibuchi K., Arai K., Kaziro Y., Matsumoto K. GPA1, a haploid-specific essential gene, encodes a yeast homolog of mammalian G protein which may be involved in mating factor signal transduction. Cell. 1987 Sep 25;50(7):1011–1019. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90167-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Nadin-Davis S. A., Nasim A., Beach D. Involvement of ras in sexual differentiation but not in growth control in fission yeast. EMBO J. 1986 Nov;5(11):2963–2971. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1986.tb04593.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Nakayama N., Miyajima A., Arai K. Nucleotide sequences of STE2 and STE3, cell type-specific sterile genes from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. EMBO J. 1985 Oct;4(10):2643–2648. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1985.tb03982.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Obara T., Nakafuku M., Yamamoto M., Kaziro Y. Isolation and characterization of a gene encoding a G-protein alpha subunit from Schizosaccharomyces pombe: involvement in mating and sporulation pathways. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 Jul 1;88(13):5877–5881. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.13.5877. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Rothstein R. J. One-step gene disruption in yeast. Methods Enzymol. 1983;101:202–211. doi: 10.1016/0076-6879(83)01015-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. 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]
  31. Sprague G. F., Jr, Jensen R., Herskowitz I. Control of yeast cell type by the mating type locus: positive regulation of the alpha-specific STE3 gene by the MAT alpha 1 product. Cell. 1983 Feb;32(2):409–415. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90460-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Staben C., Yanofsky C. Neurospora crassa a mating-type region. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Jul;87(13):4917–4921. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.13.4917. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Teague M. A., Chaleff D. T., Errede B. Nucleotide sequence of the yeast regulatory gene STE7 predicts a protein homologous to protein kinases. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Oct;83(19):7371–7375. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.19.7371. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Thomas P. S. Hybridization of denatured RNA and small DNA fragments transferred to nitrocellulose. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1980 Sep;77(9):5201–5205. doi: 10.1073/pnas.77.9.5201. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Watanabe Y., Lino Y., Furuhata K., Shimoda C., Yamamoto M. The S.pombe mei2 gene encoding a crucial molecule for commitment to meiosis is under the regulation of cAMP. EMBO J. 1988 Mar;7(3):761–767. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1988.tb02873.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Whiteway M., Hougan L., Dignard D., Thomas D. Y., Bell L., Saari G. C., Grant F. J., O'Hara P., MacKay V. L. The STE4 and STE18 genes of yeast encode potential beta and gamma subunits of the mating factor receptor-coupled G protein. Cell. 1989 Feb 10;56(3):467–477. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90249-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Yanisch-Perron C., Vieira J., Messing J. Improved M13 phage cloning vectors and host strains: nucleotide sequences of the M13mp18 and pUC19 vectors. Gene. 1985;33(1):103–119. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(85)90120-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The EMBO Journal are provided here courtesy of Nature Publishing Group

RESOURCES