title: Srp2, an SR protein family member of fission yeast: in vivo characterization of its modular domains.
abstract: We isolated srp2, a gene encoding a protein composed of two RNA binding domains (RBDs) at the N-terminus followed by an arginine-rich region that is flanked by two short SR (serine/arginine) elements. The RBDs contain the signatures RDADDA and SWQDLKD found in RBD1 and RBD2 of all typical metazoan SR proteins. srp2 is essential for growth. We have analyzed in vivo the role of the modular domains of Srp2 by testing specific mutations in a conditional strain for complementation. We found that RBD2 is essential for function and determines the specificity of RBD1 in Srp2. Replacement of the first RBD with RBD1 of Srp1 of fission yeast does not change this specificity. The two SR elements in the C-terminus of Srp2 are also essential for function in vivo. Cellular distribution analysis with green fluorescence protein fused to portions of Srp2 revealed that the SR elements are necessary to target Srp2 to the nucleus. Furthermore, overexpression of modular domains of Srp2 and Srp1 show different effects on pre-mRNA splicing activity of the tfIId gene. Taken together, these findings are consistent with the notion that the RBDs of these proteins may be involved in pre-mRNA recognition.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Genetik-Biozentrum, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Spielmannstrasse 7, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lützelberger
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gross
authors.forename: N F
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Käufer
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites / Q000235:genetics; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D012331:RNA, Fungal / Q000378:metabolism; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D012568:Schizosaccharomyces / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D029702:Schizosaccharomyces pombe Proteins; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D012331:RNA, Fungal; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D029702:Schizosaccharomyces pombe Proteins; C120856:srP2 protein, S pombe