title: A putative protein kinase gene (kin1+) is important for growth polarity in Schizosaccharomyces pombe.
abstract: Mixed synthetic oligonucleotides encoding a sequence conserved among tyrosine-specific protein kinases were used to probe the genome of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. A single gene (kin1+) was isolated that encodes a putative protein kinase closely related to the KIN1- and KIN2-encoded serine/threonine-specific protein kinases of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. kin1+ is transcribed into a 3.5-kilobase mRNA that contains an uninterrupted open reading frame encoding a polypeptide of 98 kDa. In contrast to results obtained with kin mutants of S. cerevisiae, disruption of the Sc. pombe kin1+ gene resulted in recessive morphological and growth defects. kin1-disrupted cells grew slowly on enriched medium and grew as spheres, in contrast to wild-type Sc. pombe cells, which grow as rods. Relative to kin1+ cells, kin1-disrupted cells were differentially sensitive to lysis by treatment with alpha- and beta-glucanases, suggesting an alteration in either the composition or the organization of their cell walls.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, San Francisco 94143.
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Levin
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Bishop
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics*; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics; D012568:Schizosaccharomyces / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
chemical_list: D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D011494:Protein Kinases