title: STE16, a new gene required for pheromone production by a cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
abstract: Genes required for mating by a and alpha cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (STE, "sterile," genes) encode products such as peptide pheromones, pheromone receptors, and proteins responsible for pheromone processing. a-specific STE genes are those required for mating by a cells but not by alpha cells. To identify new a-specific STE genes, we have employed a novel strategy that enabled us to determine if a ste mutant defective in mating as a is also defective in mating as alpha without the need to do crosses. This technique involved a strain (K12-14b) of genotype mata1 HML alpha HMR alpha sir3ts, which mates as a at 25 degrees and as alpha at 34 degrees. We screened over 40,000 mutagenized colonies derived from K12-14b and obtained 28 a-specific ste mutants. These strains contained mutations in three known a-specific genes--STE2, STE6 and STE14--and in a new gene, STE16. ste16 mutants are defective in the production of the pheromone, a-factor, and exhibit slow growth. Based on the distribution of a-specific ste mutants described here, we infer that we have identified most if not all nonessential genes that can give rise to a-specific mating defects.
mesh_terms: D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D005796:Genes; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D000072235:Mating Factor; D009154:Mutation; D010455:Peptides / Q000235:genetics*; D010641:Phenotype; D010675:Pheromones / Q000235:genetics*; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D010455:Peptides; D010675:Pheromones; D000072235:Mating Factor