Abstract
Investigations into sexual differentiation and pheromone response in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe are complicated by the need to first starve the cells of nitrogen. Most mating-related experiments are therefore performed on non-dividing cells. Here we overcome this problem by using two mutants that bypass the nutritional requirements and respond to the M-factor mating pheromone in rich medium. The first mutant lacks the cyr1 gene which encodes adenylate cyclase and these cells contain no measurable amounts of cAMP. When M-factor is added to a growing h+ cyr1- strain it causes a transient G1 arrest of cell division, transcription of mat1-Pm, and elongation of the cells to form shmoos. The second mutant contains the temperature-sensitive pat1-114 allele. At 30 degrees C this mutant was previously shown not only to bypass the nutritional signal but also to stop growing in a state derepressed for pheromone-controlled functions. We now report that an h+ pat1-114 strain growing mitotically at 23 degrees C responds to M-factor. This shows that the pat1 protein kinase can be tuned to derepress nutritional signalling while repressing the other stages in the differentiation process.
| Originalsprog | Engelsk |
|---|---|
| Tidsskrift | Current Genetics |
| Vol/bind | 26 |
| Udgave nummer | 2 |
| Sider (fra-til) | 105-12 |
| Antal sider | 8 |
| ISSN | 0172-8083 |
| Status | Udgivet - 1 aug. 1994 |