Molecular cloning of the DAC2/FUS3 gene essential for pheromone-induced G1-arrest of the cell cycle in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
Mating pheromones, known as a and alpha-factors, arrest the division of cells of opposite mating types, alpha and a respectively, in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. I have cloned the DAC2 gene, which is required for both pheromone-induced division-arrest and cell-fusion during conjugation. The constructed dac2::LEU2 null mutation leads to defects in both pheromone-induced division-arrest and cell-fusion during conjugation; it also suppresses the growth defect caused by the gpa1 mutation (a mutation in the alpha subunit of the S. cerevisiae G protein). These results indicate that DAC2 may be the same gene as FUS3, which was recently isolated by Elion et al. (1990) as a gene essential for cell-fusion during conjugation. The dac2::LEU2 null mutant also showed morphological alterations in response to mating pheromones. I show here that the DAC2 product plays an essential role in both the division-arrest signalling pathway of the yeast pheromone response and in cell-fusion during conjugation.
Fujimura
H
H
Laboratory for Molecular Biology, Hoechst Japan Ltd., Kawagoe, Japan.
D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D016193:G1 Phase; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D000072235:Mating Factor; D009154:Mutation; D010455:Peptides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010641:Phenotype; D010675:Pheromones / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013489:Suppression, Genetic
D010455:Peptides; D010675:Pheromones; D000072235:Mating Factor