title: Mating pheromones of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe: purification and structural characterization of M-factor and isolation and analysis of two genes encoding the pheromone.
abstract: Conjugation in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe is controlled by the action of mating pheromones. Here I describe the isolation and characterization of M-factor, the pheromone released by M-type cells. M-factor is a nanopeptide in which the carboxy-terminal cysteine residue is carboxy-methylated and S-alkylated, probably with a farnesyl residue: Tyr-Thr-Pro-Lys-Val-Pro-Tyr-Met-Cys(S-farnesyl)-OCH3. Evidence for this structure was obtained by amino acid analysis, mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry of the native M-factor. Two genes encoding the M-factor were also identified and characterized. It appears that M-factor is synthesized as a larger precursor which is post-translationally cleaved and modified to yield the active pheromone. The proposed modifications are consistent with mechanisms known to exist in other yeast and higher eukaryotes.
authors.affiliation: School of Biochemistry, University of Birmingham, UK.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Davey
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010675:Pheromones / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012331:RNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D012568:Schizosaccharomyces / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D029702:Schizosaccharomyces pombe Proteins; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D013045:Species Specificity; D016339:Spectrometry, Mass, Fast Atom Bombardment
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; C089516:Mating Factor, S pombe; D010455:Peptides; D010675:Pheromones; D012331:RNA, Fungal; D029702:Schizosaccharomyces pombe Proteins; C490320:mfm1 protein, S pombe