Skip to main content
PMC home page
The EMBO Journal logoLink to The EMBO Journal
. 1985 Dec 16;4(13A):3531–3538. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1985.tb04113.x

Histone gene organization of fission yeast: a common upstream sequence.

S Matsumoto, M Yanagida
PMCID: PMC554693  PMID: 4092687

Abstract

Histone genes of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe were cloned from Charon 4A and cosmid gene libraries by hybridization, and their nucleotide sequences were determined. The genome of S. pombe has a single, isolated H2A, a pair of H2A-H2B and three pairs of H3-H4 (one H2B, two H2A and three each of H3 and H4). This non-assorted histone gene organization is distinct from that of the budding yeast which has two pairs of H2A-H2B and H3-H4. The predicted amino acid sequences of S. pombe histone H2As, H3s and H4s were identical except for three residue changes in H2As. Compared with those os S. cerevisiae and human, variable residues were clustered near the NH2- and COOH-terminal regions of H2A and H2B. Sequence homologies to the two organisms were roughly the same in H2A (79-83%), H3 (92-93%) and H4 (91%), but differed in H2B (82% to S. cerevisiae and 68% to human). The coding sequences in pairs of S. pombe histone genes were divergently directed. A 17-bp long highly homologous sequence (AACCCT box) that had internal 6-bp direct repeats was present in the intergene spacer sequences or in the 5' upstream region of all the cloned histone genes. A possible regulatory role of the common upstream sequence for histone gene expression is discussed.

Full text

PDF
3531

Images in this article

3532Fig. 1.
on p.3532

Selected References

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

  1. Aves S. J., Durkacz B. W., Carr A., Nurse P. Cloning, sequencing and transcriptional control of the Schizosaccharomyces pombe cdc10 'start' gene. EMBO J. 1985 Feb;4(2):457–463. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1985.tb03651.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Beach D., Durkacz B., Nurse P. Functionally homologous cell cycle control genes in budding and fission yeast. Nature. 1982 Dec 23;300(5894):706–709. doi: 10.1038/300706a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. 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]
  4. Choe J., Kolodrubetz D., Grunstein M. The two yeast histone H2A genes encode similar protein subtypes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1982 Mar;79(5):1484–1487. doi: 10.1073/pnas.79.5.1484. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Cryer D. R., Eccleshall R., Marmur J. Isolation of yeast DNA. Methods Cell Biol. 1975;12:39–44. doi: 10.1016/s0091-679x(08)60950-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Hentschel C. C., Birnstiel M. L. The organization and expression of histone gene families. Cell. 1981 Aug;25(2):301–313. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(81)90048-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Hereford L. M., Osley M. A., Ludwig T. R., 2nd, McLaughlin C. S. Cell-cycle regulation of yeast histone mRNA. Cell. 1981 May;24(2):367–375. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(81)90326-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hereford L., Bromley S., Osley M. A. Periodic transcription of yeast histone genes. Cell. 1982 Aug;30(1):305–310. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(82)90036-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. 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]
  10. Hiraoka Y., Toda T., Yanagida M. The NDA3 gene of fission yeast encodes beta-tubulin: a cold-sensitive nda3 mutation reversibly blocks spindle formation and chromosome movement in mitosis. Cell. 1984 Dec;39(2 Pt 1):349–358. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90013-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Hohn B., Murray K. Packaging recombinant DNA molecules into bacteriophage particles in vitro. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Aug;74(8):3259–3263. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.8.3259. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Kedes L. H. Histone genes and histone messengers. Annu Rev Biochem. 1979;48:837–870. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.48.070179.004201. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Kohli J., Hottinger H., Munz P., Strauss A., Thuriaux P. Genetic Mapping in SCHIZOSACCHAROMYCES POMBE by Mitotic and Meiotic Analysis and Induced Haploidization. Genetics. 1977 Nov;87(3):471–489. doi: 10.1093/genetics/87.3.471. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Lifton R. P., Goldberg M. L., Karp R. W., Hogness D. S. The organization of the histone genes in Drosophila melanogaster: functional and evolutionary implications. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 1978;42(Pt 2):1047–1051. doi: 10.1101/sqb.1978.042.01.105. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. 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]
  16. 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]
  17. Mitchison J. M., Carter B. L. Cell cycle analysis. Methods Cell Biol. 1975;11:201–219. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Nurse P., Thuriaux P., Nasmyth K. Genetic control of the cell division cycle in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Mol Gen Genet. 1976 Jul 23;146(2):167–178. doi: 10.1007/BF00268085. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Old R. W., Woodland H. R. Histone genes: not so simple after all. Cell. 1984 Oct;38(3):624–626. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90256-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Rykowski M. C., Wallis J. W., Choe J., Grunstein M. Histone H2B subtypes are dispensable during the yeast cell cycle. Cell. 1981 Aug;25(2):477–487. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(81)90066-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Saigo K., Millstein L., Thomas C. A., Jr The organization of Drosophila melanogaster histone genes. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 1981;45(Pt 2):815–827. doi: 10.1101/sqb.1981.045.01.100. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. 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]
  23. Smith M. M., Andrésson O. S. DNA sequences of yeast H3 and H4 histone genes from two non-allelic gene sets encode identical H3 and H4 proteins. J Mol Biol. 1983 Sep 25;169(3):663–690. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(83)80164-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Smith M. M., Murray K. Yeast H3 and H4 histone messenger RNAs are transcribed from two non-allelic gene sets. J Mol Biol. 1983 Sep 25;169(3):641–661. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(83)80163-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Thomas J. O., Furber V. Yeast chromatin structure. FEBS Lett. 1976 Jul 15;66(2):274–280. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(76)80521-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Toda T., Yamamoto M., Yanagida M. Sequential alterations in the nuclear chromatin region during mitosis of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe: video fluorescence microscopy of synchronously growing wild-type and cold-sensitive cdc mutants by using a DNA-binding fluorescent probe. J Cell Sci. 1981 Dec;52:271–287. doi: 10.1242/jcs.52.1.271. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Wallis J. W., Hereford L., Grunstein M. Histone H2B genes of yeast encode two different proteins. Cell. 1980 Dec;22(3):799–805. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(80)90556-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Woudt L. P., Pastink A., Kempers-Veenstra A. E., Jansen A. E., Mager W. H., Planta R. J. The genes coding for histone H3 and H4 in Neurospora crassa are unique and contain intervening sequences. Nucleic Acids Res. 1983 Aug 25;11(16):5347–5360. doi: 10.1093/nar/11.16.5347. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Yamamoto K. R., Alberts B. M., Benzinger R., Lawhorne L., Treiber G. Rapid bacteriophage sedimentation in the presence of polyethylene glycol and its application to large-scale virus purification. Virology. 1970 Mar;40(3):734–744. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(70)90218-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. 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