Cloning and expression on a multicopy vector of five invertase genes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Summary Six unlinked loci for invertase structural genes are known in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae: SUC1-SUC5 and SUC7. These genes are similar in structure and expression but not identical. Different yeast strains possess none, one or several of these genes.We have isolated the genes SUC1-SUC5, subcloned them into the multicopy vector YEp24 and compared the expression of the five SUC genes in one recipient strain. SUC2 was isolated by transformation of a suc0 strain with a gene pool and complementation to sucrose fermentation. SUC4 was cloned from a minipool of chromosomal fragments which were shown to contain SUC4 by Southern hybridization. SUC1, SUC3 and SUC5 were isolated using the method of plasmid eviction. A plasmid containing regions flanking SUC4 was integrated next to these SUC genes. The plasmid together with the SUC genes were then cut out of the chromosome using an appropriate restriction endonuclease.The length of chromosomal DNA fragments containing the different SUC genes were 4.8 kb for SUC1, 5.2 kb for SUC2, 4.8 kb for SUC3, 12.8 kb for SUC4 and 17.2 kb for SUC5.Fragments containing the complete SUC genes and the sequences controlling their expression were subcloned into YEp24 and transformed into a strain without any active invertase gene. Invertase activity of transformants was measured after growth repressing (8% glucose) and derepressing (2% raffinose) conditions. As expected from results with strains carrying the individual SUC genes in a chromosomal location, the SUC genes were expressed to a different extent.Dedicated to Prof. Dr. Fritz Kaudewitz on the occasion of his 65th birthdayThis work was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft     

Cloning and integrative deletion of the RAD6 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Summary Three overlapping plasmids were isolated from a YEp24 library, which restore Rad+ functions to rad6-1 and rad6-3 mutants. Different subclones were made and shown to integrate by homologous recombination at the RAD6 site on chromosome VII, thus verifying the cloned DNA segments to be the RAD6 gene and not a suppressor. The gene resides in a 1.15 kb fragment, which restores Rad⁺ levels of resistance to U.V., MMS and -rays to both rad6-1 and rad6-3 strains. It also restores sporulation ability to rad6-1 diploids.Integrative deletion of the RAD6 gene was shown not to be completely lethal to the yeast. Our results suggest that the RAD6 gene has some cell cycle-specific function(s), probably during late S phase.     

The STA2 and MEL1 genes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae are idiomorphic

Summary The STA2 (glucoamylase) gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been mapped close to the end of the left arm of chromosome II. Meiotic analysis of a cross between a haploid strain containing STA2, and another strain carrying the melibiase gene MEL1 (which is known to be at the end of the left arm of chromosome II) produced parental ditype tetrads only. Since there is no significant DNA sequence similarity between the STA2 and MEL1 genes, or their respective flanking regions, we conclude that these two genes are carried by separate non-hybridizing sequences of chromosomal DNA, either of which can reside at the end of the left arm of chromosome II. By analogy with the mating-type locus of Neurospora crassa, we suggest that the STA2 and MEL1 genes are idiomorphs with respect to one another.     

Cloning and mapping of the CYS4 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Summary A DNA fragment containing the CYS4 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was isolated from a genomic library. The cloned fragment hybridized to the transverse-alternating-field-electrophoresis band corresponding to chromosomes VII and XV. According to the 2 m DNA chromosome-loss procedure, the cys2 and cys4 mutations, which are linked together and co-operatively confer cysteine dependence, were assigned to chromosome VII. By further mapping involving tetrad analysis, the cys2-cys4 pair was localized between SUP77 (SUP166) and ade3 on the right arm of chromosome VII.     

Cloning and expression of Hormoconis resinae glucoamylase P cDNA in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

A cDNA coding for glucoamylase P of Hormoconis resinae was cloned using a synthetic oligonucleotide probe coding for a peptide fragment of the purified enzyme and polyclonal anti-glucoamylase antibodies. Nucleotide-sequence analysis revealed an open reading frame of 1848 base pairs coding for a protein of 616 amino-acid residues. Comparison with other fungal glucoamylase amino-acid sequences showed homologies of 37–48%. The glucoamylase cDNA, when introduced into Saccharomyces cerevisiae under the control of the yeast ADC1 promoter, directed the secretion of active glucoamylase P into the growth medium.     

Cloning and identification of a DNA fragment coding for the sup1 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Summary A plasmid, pYsup1-1, containing a DNA fragment able to suppress the recessive mutant phenotype of the suppressor locus sup1 (allele sup1-ts36) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was isolated from a bank of yeast chromosomal DNA cloned in cosmid p3030. The complementing gene was localized on a 2.6 kb DNA fragment by further subcloning. Evidence is presented that the cloned DNA segment codes for the sup1 structural gene (chromosome IIR).     

Genetic mapping of two pairs of linked ribosomal protein genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Summary We have used the 2 mapping method described by Falco and Botstein (1983) and tetrad analysis to map four ribosomal protein genes (two linked pairs) in S. cerevisiae. One pair (rp28–rp55 copy 1) is on chromosome XV, 14 cM proximal to ARG8. The other pair (rp55–rp28 copy 2) is 19 cM from the centromere on the left arm of chromosome XIV. To map copy 1 we used the E. coli -galactosidase gene rather than a yeast gene to mark the ribosomal protein chromosomal locus. This provided a more sensitive color screening assay for chromosome loss in the 2 method. It also removed the restriction that the mapping tester strains must be mutant for the plasmid marker.     

MAL63 codes for a positive regulator of maltose fermentation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Summary Genetic analysis of the MAL6 locus has previously yielded mal6 mutants which fall into a single complementation group and which are noninducible for maltase and maltose permease. However, the strains used in these studies contained additional partially functional copies of MAL1 (referred to as MAL1g) and MAL3 (referred to as MAL3g). Using a strain lacking MALg genes, we have isolated two classes of mutants and these classes correspond to mutations in MAL63 and MAL61, two genes of the MAL6 complex. Disruptions of MAL63 are noninducible for maltase and maltose permease and for their corresponding mRNAs. The mal6 mutants are shown to map to MAL63 Inducer exclusion as a cause of the noninducible phenotype of the mal63 mutations has been eliminated by constructing a ma163 mutant in a strain constitutive for maltose permease; the strain remains noninducible. These results rigorously demonstrate that MAL63 is a regulatory gene which plays a positive role in the regulation of maltose fermentation.     

Identification and characterization of four new GCD genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Summary Mutant strains, resistant against the amino acid analogues 5-methyltryptophan, 5-fluorotryptophan and canavanine were isolated, starting with a trp2 leaky auxotrophic strain. Of 10 such strains, only four turned out to be of the general control derepressed (gcd) mutant type. Three other isolates were shown to be defective in the general amino acid permease system, while the remaining three strains displayed low spore viability and were not further investigated. Complementation tests amongst the four new gcd-mutant strains, including strain RH558 gcd2-1 isolated earlier, yielded five complementation groups: GCD2, GCD3, GCD4, GCD5, and GCD6. All mutant strains showed a dual phenotype, which was not separable by wild type backcrosses: constitutive derepression and slow growth. Epistatis of all gcd mutations over gcn1-1, gcn2-1 and gcn3-1 was found with respect to both phenotypes, except for gcd5-1, which was lethal in these combinations. On the other hand gcn4-101 was found to be epistatic over all gcd mutations, but only with respect to the constitutive derepression phenotype, and not to slow growth; again the combination with gcd5-1 was lethal. Mutation gcd2-1 was mapped on chromosome VII, 50 cM from leu1 and 22 cM from ade6. A new model is discussed, in which GCD-genes are involved in the amino acid uptake into the vacuoles.     

Palindrome content of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome

Palindromic sequences are important DNA motifs involved in the regulation of different cellular processes, but are also a potential source of genetic instability. In order to initiate a systematic study of palindromes at the whole genome level, we developed a computer program that can identify, locate and count palindromes in a given sequence in a strictly defined way. All palindromes, defined as identical inverted repeats without spacer DNA, can be analyzed and sorted according to their size, frequency, GC content or alphabetically. This program was then used to prepare a catalog of all palindromes present in the chromosomal DNA of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. For each palindrome size, the observed palindrome counts were significantly different from those in the randomly generated equivalents of the yeast genome. However, while the short palindromes (2–12 bp) were under-represented, the palindromes longer than 12 bp were over-represented, AT-rich and preferentially located in the intergenic regions. The 44-bp palindrome found between the genes CDC53 and LYS21 on chromosome IV was the longest palindrome identified and contained only two C-G base pairs. Avoidance of coding regions was also observed for palindromes of 4–12 bp, but was less pronounced. Dinucleotide analysis indicated a strong bias against palindromic dinucleotides that could explain the observed short palindrome avoidance. We discuss some possible mechanisms that may influence the evolutionary dynamics of palindromic sequences in the yeast genome.     

Cloning and mapping of CDC40, a Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene with a role in DNA repair

Summary The cdc40 mutation has been previously shown to be a heat-sensitive cell-division-cycle mutation. At the restrictive temperature, cdc40 cells arrest at the end of DNA replication, but retain sensitivity to hydroxyurea (Kassir and Simchen 1978). The mutation has also been shown to affect commitment to meiotic recombination and its realization. Here we show that mutant cells are extremely sensitive to Methyl-Methane Sulfonate (MMS) when the treatment is carried out at restrictive temperature. Incubation at 37 °C prior to, or after MMS treatment at 23 °C, does not result in lower survival. It is concluded that the CDC40 gene product has a role in DNA repair, possibly holding together or protecting the DNA during the early stages of repair.The CDC40 gene was cloned on a 2.65 kb DNA fragment. A 2 plasmid carrying the gene was integrated and mapped to chromosome IV, between trp4 and ade8, by the method of marker loss. Conventional tetrad analysis has shown cdc40 to map 1.7 cM from trp4.     

Inheritance of chromosome length polymorphisms in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Summary Although Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains generally have similar chromosomal band patterns as revealed by pulsed field gel electrophoresis, individual bands often move slightly differently from one strain to the other. Surveying strains from our stock collection, we found that nearly all the bands of a certain pair of strains differed in their mobility. Some of these chromosome length polymorphisms segregated in a 2:2 ratio, indicating that they resulted from single structural alterations (i.e. additions or deletions). One of these was mapped on the right arm of chromosome 1. Others did not segrate in a simple 2:2 ratio. That is, there were progenies which had bands not present in either parent. We suggest that these new bands are the products of recombination between homologous chromosomes having two or more structural alterations.     

Phenotypic identification of amplifications of the ADH4 and CUP1 genes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Primary gene amplification, i.e., mutation from one gene copy to multiple gene copies per genome, is important in genomic evolution, as a means of producing anti-cancer drug resistance, and is associated with the progression of tumor malignancy. Primary amplification has not been studied in normal eukaryotic cells because amplifications are extremely rare in these cells. A system has been developed to phenotypically identify co-amplifications of the ADH4 and CUP1 genes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and 21 independent spontaneous amplifications have been isolated.     

Cloning and characterization of the SKI3 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae demonstrates allelism to SKI5

Summary We have identified a mutant strain of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae which overproduces killer toxin. This strain contains a single mutation which fails to complement defects in both the SKI3 and SKI5 genes, while a cloned copy of this gene complements both the ski3 and ski5 defects. The level of secreted toxin from a cDNA based plasmid is not increased in a ski3 strain, showing that the overproduction phenotype is dependent upon an increased level of M1 dsRNA.     

A DNA sequence in Saccharomyces exiguus is homologous with the HO gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Summary The DNA of Saccharomyces exiguus was analyzed by Southern hybridization using cloned MATa, MAT, and HO genes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae as probes. It was shown that S. exiguus has a DNA sequence homologous with the HO gene of S. cerevisiae and that this DNA sequence is on a chromosome of about 940 kb of DNA in S. exiguus. However, there is no DNA sequence in S. exiguus that is homologous with the MAT genes of S. cerevisiae.     

Biosynthesis of hydroxymethylpyrimidine pyrophosphate in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Two redundant genes, THI20 and THI21, of Saccharomyces cerevisiae encode a 2-methyl-4-amino-5-hydroxymethylpyrimidine monophosphate (HMP-P) kinase required for thiamin biosynthesis. Using functional complementation analysis with an Escherichia coli mutant strain and a defined biochemical system containing partially purified proteins for the reconstitution of thiamin monophosphate synthesis, we demonstrate that both Thi20p and Thi21p proteins also have HMP kinase activity. Although each isoform independently can synthesize HMP pyrophosphate (HMP-PP) from HMP, there is a marked difference in efficiency between the two proteins. The thi20 deletion strain grows at the same rate as the parental strain in minimal medium without thiamin, but its ability to synthesize HMP-PP from HMP is significantly decreased. We discuss the possibility that HMP is not involved in the pathway of de novo thiamin synthesis in S. cerevisiae.     

A novel mutation that affects utilization of galactose in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Summary A novel type of regulatory mutation for galactose metabolism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is described. The mutation named gal11 was recessive, non-allelic to GAL4, GAL80, GAL2, or GAL3, and unlinked to the gene cluster of GAL1, GAL10, and GAL7. It caused a coordinate reduction of galactokinase, galactose-1-P uridylyl transferase, and UDP-glucose 4-epimerase by a factor of more than 5, rendering the mutant cells galactose-nonfermenting. The effect of the mutation was manifested not only in cells grown on galactose but also in cells constitutively synthesizing the galactose-metabolizing enzymes.This work was supported in part by a grant (Project No. 410712) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science or Japan     

Genetic mapping of nuclear mucidin resistance mutations in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Summary In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, two nuclear pleiotropic drug resistance mutations pdr3-1 (former designation muc ^PR) and pdr3-2 (former designation DRI9/T7) have been selected as resistant to mucidin and as resistant to chloramphenicol plus cycloheximide, respectively. The pdr3 mutations were found not to affect the plasma membrane ATPase activity measured in a crude membrane fraction. Meiotic mapping using strains with standard genetic markers revealed that mutation pdr3-1 is centromere linked on the left arm of chromosome II at a distance of 5.9 ± 3.3 cM from its centromere and 11.6 ± 3.1 cM from the marker pet9. The centromere linked pdr3-2 mutation exhibited also genetic linkage to pet9 with a map distance of 9.8 ± 3.2 cM. These results indicate that pdr3-1 and pdr3-2 are alleles of the same pleiotropic drug resistance locus PDR3 which is involved in the control of the plasma membrane permeability in yeast.     

Mechanism of resistance to sulphite in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Growth inhibition and cell killing caused by sulphite were reduced in seven Saccharomyces cerevisiae sulphite-resistant independent mutants, compared to their parental strains. Genetic analysis showed that in the seven mutants resistance was inherited as a single-gene dominant mutation and that all the analyzed mutations were allelic, thus identifying a major gene responsible for sulphite resistance in S. cerevisiae. Two of the mutants, MBS20-9 and MBS30, were further characterized. ³⁵S-sulphite uptake experiments showed that the ability to accumulate sulphite was markedly reduced in the two resistant strains. No difference between resistant and sensitive strains with respect to glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase sensitivity to sulphite, or to intracellular glutathione content, were revealed. In contrast, the extracellular acetaldehyde concentration was higher in the resistant mutants, both in the presence and in the absence of sulphite.