Expression of a plant viral polycistronic mRNA in yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, mediated by a plant virus translational transactivator.

We demonstrate that the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) gene VI product can transactivate the expression of a reporter gene in bakers' yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The gene VI coding sequence was placed under the control of the galactose-inducible promoter GAL1, which is presented in the yeast shuttle vector pYES2, to create plasmid JS169. We also created a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) reporter plasmid, JS161, by inserting the CAT reporter gene in-frame into CaMV gene II and subsequently cloning the entire CaMV genome into the yeast vector pRS314. When JS161 was transformed into yeast and subsequently assayed for CAT activity, only a very low level of CAT activity was detected in cellular extracts. To investigate whether the CaMV gene VI product would mediate an increase in CAT activity, we cotransformed yeast with JS169 and JS161. Upon induction with galactose, we found that CAT activity in yeast transformed with JS161 and JS169 was about 19 times higher than the level in the transformants that contained only JS161. CAT activity was dependent on the presence of the gene VI protein, because essentially no CAT activity was detected in yeast cells grown in the presence of glucose, which represses expression from the GAL1 promoter. RNase protection assays showed that the gene VI product had no effect on transcription from the 35S RNA promoter, demonstrating that regulation was occurring at the translation level. This yeast system will prove useful for understanding how the gene VI product of CaMV mediates the translation of genes present on a eukaryotic polycistronic mRNA.

Large-scale protein structure modeling of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome

The function of a protein generally is determined by its three-dimensional (3D) structure. Thus, it would be useful to know the 3D structure of the thousands of protein sequences that are emerging from the many genome projects. To this end, fold assignment, comparative protein structure modeling, and model evaluation were automated completely. As an illustration, the method was applied to the proteins in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker’s yeast) genome. It resulted in all-atom 3D models for substantial segments of 1,071 (17%) of the yeast proteins, only 40 of which have had their 3D structure determined experimentally. Of the 1,071 modeled yeast proteins, 236 were related clearly to a protein of known structure for the first time; 41 of these previously have not been characterized at all.

Specific interaction of the yeast cis-Golgi syntaxin Sed5p and the coat protein complex II component Sec24p of endoplasmic reticulum-derived transport vesicles

The generation of transport vesicles at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) depends on cytosolic proteins, which, in the form of subcomplexes (Sec23p/Sec24p; Sec13p/Sec31p) are recruited to the ER membrane by GTP-bound Sar1p and form the coat protein complex II (COPII). Using affinity chromatography and two-hybrid analyses, we found that the essential COPII component Sec24p, but not Sec23p, binds to the cis-Golgi syntaxin Sed5p. Sec24p/Sed5p interaction in vitro was not dependent on the presence of [Sar1p⋅GTP]. The binding of Sec24p to Sed5p is specific; none of the other seven yeast syntaxins bound to this COPII component. Whereas the interaction site of Sec23p is within the N-terminal half of the 926-aa-long Sec24p (amino acid residues 56–549), Sed5p binds to the N- and C-terminal halves of the protein. Destruction by mutagenesis of a potential zinc finger within the N-terminal half of Sec24p led to a nonfunctional protein that was still able to bind Sec23p and Sed5p. Sec24p/Sed5p binding might be relevant for cargo selection during transport-vesicle formation and/or for vesicle targeting to the cis-Golgi.

Brefeldin A-inhibited guanine nucleotide-exchange activity of Sec7 domain from yeast Sec7 with yeast and mammalian ADP ribosylation factors

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae Sec7 protein (ySec7p), which is an important component of the yeast secretory pathway, contains a sequence of ≈200 amino acids referred to as a Sec7 domain. Similar Sec7 domain sequences have been recognized in several guanine nucleotide-exchange proteins (GEPs) for ADP ribosylation factors (ARFs). ARFs are ≈20-kDa GTPases that regulate intracellular vesicular membrane trafficking and activate phospholipase D. GEPs activate ARFs by catalyzing the replacement of bound GDP with GTP. We, therefore, undertook to determine whether a Sec7 domain itself could catalyze nucleotide exchange on ARF and found that it exhibited brefeldin A (BFA)-inhibitable ARF GEP activity. BFA is known to inhibit ARF GEP activity in Golgi membranes, thereby causing reversible apparent dissolution of the Golgi complex in many cells. The His6-tagged Sec7 domain from ySec7p (rySec7d) synthesized in Escherichia coli enhanced binding of guanosine 5′-[γ-[35S]thio]triphosphate by recombinant yeast ARF1 (ryARF1) and ryARF2 but not by ryARF3. The effects of rySec7d on ryARF2 were inhibited by BFA in a concentration-dependent manner but not by inactive analogues of BFA (B-17, B-27, and B-36). rySec7d also promoted BFA-sensitive guanosine 5′-[γ-thio]triphosphate binding by nonmyristoylated recombinant human ARF1 (rhARF1), rhARF5, and rhARF6, although the effect on rhARF6 was very small. These results are consistent with the conclusion that the yeast Sec7 domain itself contains the elements necessary for ARF GEP activity and its inhibition by BFA.

The TOR (target of rapamycin) signal transduction pathway regulates the stability of translation initiation factor eIF4G in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Initiation factor eIF4G is an essential protein required for initiation of mRNA translation via the 5′ cap-dependent pathway. It interacts with eIF4E (the mRNA 5′ cap-binding protein) and serves as an anchor for the assembly of further initiation factors. With treatment of Saccharomyces cerevisiae with rapamycin or with entry of cells into the diauxic phase, eIF4G is rapidly degraded, whereas initiation factors eIF4E and eIF4A remain stable. We propose that nutritional deprivation or interruption of the TOR signal transduction pathway induces eIF4G degradation.

Extent of genomic rearrangement after genome duplication in yeast

Whole-genome duplication approximately 108 years ago was proposed as an explanation for the many duplicated chromosomal regions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here we have used computer simulations and analytic methods to estimate some parameters describing the evolution of the yeast genome after this duplication event. Computer simulation of a model in which 8% of the original genes were retained in duplicate after genome duplication, and 70–100 reciprocal translocations occurred between chromosomes, produced arrangements of duplicated chromosomal regions very similar to the map of real duplications in yeast. An analytical method produced an independent estimate of 84 map disruptions. These results imply that many smaller duplicated chromosomal regions exist in the yeast genome in addition to the 55 originally reported. We also examined the possibility of determining the original order of chromosomal blocks in the ancestral unduplicated genome, but this cannot be done without information from one or more additional species. If the genome sequence of one other species (such as Kluyveromyces lactis) were known it should be possible to identify 150–200 paired regions covering the whole yeast genome and to reconstruct approximately two-thirds of the original order of blocks of genes in yeast. Rates of interchromosome translocation in yeast and mammals appear similar despite their very different rates of homologous recombination per kilobase.

Deposition-related sites K5/K12 in histone H4 are not required for nucleosome deposition in yeast

Histone H4 can be acetylated at N-terminal lysines K5, K8, K12, and K16, but newly synthesized H4 is diacetylated at K5/K12 in diverse organisms. This pattern is widely thought to be important for histone deposition onto replicating DNA. To investigate the importance of K5/K12 we have mutagenized these lysines in yeast and assayed for nucleosome assembly. Assaying was done in the absence of the histone H3 N terminus, which has functions redundant with those of H4 in histone deposition. Nucleosome assembly was assayed by three methods. Because nucleosome depletion may be lethal, we examined cell viability. We also analyzed nucleosome assembly in vivo and in vitro by examining plasmid superhelicity density in whole cells and supercoiling in yeast cell extracts. All three approaches demonstrate that mutagenizing K5 and K12 together does not prevent cell growth and histone deposition in vivo or in vitro. Therefore, K5/K12 cannot be required for nucleosome assembly in yeast. It is only when the first three sites of acetylation—K5, K8, and K12—are mutagenized simultaneously that lethality occurs and assembly is most strongly decreased both in vivo and in vitro. These data argue for the redundancy of sites K5, K8, and K12 in the deposition of yeast histone H4.

Control of pre-mRNA accumulation by the essential yeast protein Nrd1 requires high-affinity transcript binding and a domain implicated in RNA polymerase II association

Nrd1 is an essential yeast protein of unknown function that has an RNA recognition motif (RRM) in its carboxyl half and a putative RNA polymerase II-binding domain, the CTD-binding motif, at its amino terminus. Nrd1 mediates a severe reduction in pre-mRNA production from a reporter gene bearing an exogenous sequence element in its intron. The effect of the inserted element is highly sequence-specific and is accompanied by the appearance of 3′-truncated transcripts. We have proposed that Nrd1 binds to the exogenous sequence element in the nascent pre-mRNA during transcription, aided by the CTD-binding motif, and directs 3′-end formation a short distance downstream. Here we show that highly purified Nrd1 carboxyl half binds tightly to the RNA element in vitro with sequence specificity that correlates with the efficiency of cis-element-directed down-regulation in vivo. A large deletion in the CTD-binding motif blocks down-regulation but does not affect the essential function of Nrd1. Furthermore, a nonsense mutant allele that produces truncated Nrd1 protein lacking the RRM has a dominant-negative effect on down-regulation but not on cell growth. Viability of this and several other nonsense alleles of Nrd1 appears to require translational readthrough, which in one case is extremely efficient. Thus the CTD-binding motif of Nrd1 is important for pre-mRNA down-regulation but is not required for the essential function of Nrd1. In contrast, the RNA-binding activity of Nrd1 appears to be required both for down-regulation and for its essential function.

The yeast halotolerance determinant Hal3p is an inhibitory subunit of the Ppz1p Ser/Thr protein phosphatase

Components of cellular stress responses can be identified by correlating changes in stress tolerance with gain or loss of function of defined genes. Previous work has shown that yeast cells deficient in Ppz1 protein phosphatase or overexpressing Hal3p, a novel regulatory protein of unknown function, exhibit increased resistance to sodium and lithium, whereas cells lacking Hal3p display increased sensitivity. These effects are largely a result of changes in expression of ENA1, encoding the major cation extrusion pump of yeast cells. Disruption or overexpression of HAL3 (also known as SIS2) has no effect on salt tolerance in the absence of PPZ1, suggesting that Hal3p might function upstream of Ppz1p in a novel signal transduction pathway. Hal3p is recovered from crude yeast homogenates by using immobilized, bacterially expressed Ppz1p fused to glutathione S-transferase, and it also copurifies with affinity-purified glutathione S-transferase-Ppz1p from yeast extracts. In both cases, the interaction is stronger when only the carboxyl-terminal catalytic phosphatase domain of Ppz1p is expressed. In vitro experiments reveal that the protein phosphatase activity of Ppz1p is inhibited by Hal3p. Overexpression of Hal3p suppresses the reduced growth rate because of the overexpression of Ppz1p and aggravates the lytic phenotype of a slt2/mpk1 mitogen-activated protein kinase mutant (thus mimicking the deletion of PPZ1). Therefore, Hal3p might modulate diverse physiological functions of the Ppz1 phosphatase, such as salt stress tolerance and cell cycle progression, by acting as a inhibitory subunit.

The high mobility group protein Abf2p influences the level of yeast mitochondrial DNA recombination intermediates in vivo

Abf2p is a high mobility group (HMG) protein found in yeast mitochondria that is required for the maintenance of wild-type (ρ+) mtDNA in cells grown on fermentable carbon sources, and for efficient recombination of mtDNA markers in crosses. Here, we show by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis that Abf2p promotes or stabilizes Holliday recombination junction intermediates in ρ+ mtDNA in vivo but does not influence the high levels of recombination intermediates readily detected in the mtDNA of petite mutants (ρ−). mtDNA recombination junctions are not observed in ρ+ mtDNA of wild-type cells but are elevated to detectable levels in cells with a null allele of the MGT1 gene (Δmgt1), which codes for a mitochondrial cruciform-cutting endonuclease. The level of recombination intermediates in ρ+ mtDNA of Δmgt1 cells is decreased about 10-fold if those cells contain a null allele of the ABF2 gene. Overproduction of Abf2p by ≥ 10-fold in wild-type ρ+ cells, which leads to mtDNA instability, results in a dramatic increase in mtDNA recombination intermediates. Specific mutations in the two Abf2p HMG boxes required for DNA binding diminishes these responses. We conclude that Abf2p functions in the recombination of ρ+ mtDNA.

Fission yeast orb6, a ser/thr protein kinase related to mammalian rho kinase and myotonic dystrophy kinase, is required for maintenance of cell polarity and coordinates cell morphogenesis with the cell cycle

The molecular mechanisms that coordinate cell morphogenesis with the cell cycle remain largely unknown. We have investigated this process in fission yeast where changes in polarized cell growth are coupled with cell cycle progression. The orb6 gene is required during interphase to maintain cell polarity and encodes a serine/threonine protein kinase, belonging to the myotonic dystrophy kinase/cot1/warts family. A decrease in Orb6 protein levels leads to loss of polarized cell shape and to mitotic advance, whereas an increase in Orb6 levels maintains polarized growth and delays mitosis by affecting the p34cdc2 mitotic kinase. Thus the Orb6 protein kinase coordinates maintenance of cell polarity during interphase with the onset of mitosis. orb6 interacts genetically with orb2, which encodes the Pak1/Shk1 protein kinase, a component of the Ras1 and Cdc42-dependent signaling pathway. Our results suggest that Orb6 may act downstream of Pak1/Shk1, forming part of a pathway coordinating cell morphogenesis with progression through the cell cycle.

A yeast model for the study of Batten disease

Although the CLN3 gene for Batten disease, the most common inherited neurovisceral storage disease of childhood, was identified in 1995, the function of the corresponding protein still remains elusive. We previously cloned the Saccharomyces cerevisiae homologue to the human CLN3 gene, designated BTN1, which is not essential and whose product is 39% identical and 59% similar to Cln3p. We report that btn1-Δ deletion yeast strains are more resistant to d-(−)-threo-2-amino-1-[p-nitrophenyl]-1,3-propanediol (denoted ANP), a phenotype that is complemented in yeast by the human CLN3 gene. Furthermore, the severity of Batten disease in humans and the degree of ANP resistance in yeast are related when the equivalent amino acid replacements in Cln3p and Btn1p are compared. These results indicate that yeast can be used as a model for the study of Batten disease.

Phospholipase D activity is required for suppression of yeast phosphatidylinositol transfer protein defects

Yeast phosphatidylinositol transfer protein (Sec14p) function is essential for production of Golgi-derived secretory vesicles, and this requirement is bypassed by mutations in at least seven genes. Analyses of such ‘bypass Sec14p’ mutants suggest that Sec14p acts to maintain an essential Golgi membrane diacylglycerol (DAG) pool that somehow acts to promote Golgi secretory function. SPO14 encodes the sole yeast phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate-activated phospholipase D (PLD). PLD function, while essential for meiosis, is dispensable for vegetative growth. Herein, we report specific physiological circumstances under which an unanticipated requirement for PLD activity in yeast vegetative Golgi secretory function is revealed. This PLD involvement is essential in ‘bypass Sec14p’ mutants where normally Sec14p-dependent Golgi secretory reactions are occurring in a Sec14p-independent manner. PLD catalytic activity is necessary but not sufficient for ‘bypass Sec14p’, and yeast operating under ‘bypass Sec14p’ conditions are ethanol-sensitive. These data suggest that PLD supports ‘bypass Sec14p’ by generating a phosphatidic acid pool that is somehow utilized in supporting yeast Golgi secretory function.

Rap1 protein regulates telomere turnover in yeast

Telomere length is maintained through a dynamic balance between addition and loss of the terminal telomeric DNA. Normal telomere length regulation requires telomerase as well as a telomeric protein–DNA complex. Previous work has provided evidence that in the budding yeasts Kluyveromyces lactis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the telomeric double-stranded DNA binding protein Rap1p negatively regulates telomere length, in part by nucleating, by its C-terminal tail, a higher-order DNA binding protein complex that presumably limits access of telomerase to the chromosome end. Here we show that in K. lactis, truncating the Rap1p C-terminal tail (Rap1p-ΔC mutant) accelerates telomeric repeat turnover in the distal region of the telomere. In addition, combining the rap1-ΔC mutation with a telomerase template mutation (ter1-kpn), which directs the addition of mutated telomeric DNA repeats to telomeres, synergistically caused an immediate loss of telomere length regulation. Capping of the unregulated telomeres of these double mutants with functionally wild-type repeats restored telomere length control. We propose that the rate of terminal telomere turnover is controlled by Rap1p specifically through its interactions with the most distal telomeric repeats.

Cleavage motifs of the yeast 20S proteasome β subunits deduced from digests of enolase 1

The 436-amino acid protein enolase 1 from yeast was degraded in vitro by purified wild-type and mutant yeast 20S proteasome particles. Analysis of the cleavage products at different times revealed a processive degradation mechanism and a length distribution of fragments ranging from 3 to 25 amino acids with an average length of 7 to 8 amino acids. Surprisingly, the average fragment length was very similar between wild-type and mutant 20S proteasomes with reduced numbers of active sites. This implies that the fragment length is not influenced by the distance between the active sites, as previously postulated. A detailed analysis of the cleavages also allowed the identification of certain amino acid characteristics in positions flanking the cleavage site that guide the selection of the P1 residues by the three active β subunits. Because yeast and mammalian proteasomes are highly homologous, similar cleavage motifs might be used by mammalian proteasomes. Therefore, our data provide a basis for predicting proteasomal degradation products from which peptides are sampled by major histocompatibility complex class I molecules for presentation to cytotoxic T cells.