title: The Schizosaccharomyces pombe rfc3+ gene encodes a homologue of the human hRFC36 and Saccharomyces cerevisiae Rfc3 subunits of replication factor C.
abstract: In the yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe replication factor C (RF-C) plays key roles both in chromosomal DNA replication and in DNA replication checkpoint function. At the replication fork, the five-subunit RF-C complex functions to load the trimeric polymerase accessory factor PCNA onto DNA. PCNA then acts as a sliding clamp, tethering Pol delta to the DNA to maximise its processivity. Here we describe the cloning of the S. pombe rfc3+ gene, encoding a homologue of the S. cerevisiae Rfc3 and human hRFC36 proteins. The 1026 bp rfc3+ ORF is interrupted by five introns, ranging in size from 49 to 165 bp. The spliced ORF is predicted to encode a 342 amino-acid protein that is approximately 50% identical at the amino acid sequence level to the S. cerevisiae Rfc3 and human hRFC36 proteins. As expected, S. pombe rfc3+ is an essential gene, with rfc3delta cells being defective for DNA replication. Loss of rfc3+ function can be rescued by heterologous expression of either the S. cerevisiae Rfc3 or human hRFC36 proteins in S. pombe.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: F C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: MacNeill
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D002455:Cell Division / Q000235:genetics; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D004261:DNA Replication / Q000235:genetics; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005091:Exons; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005800:Genes, Fungal / Q000235:genetics*; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D006801:Humans; D007438:Introns; D015778:Minor Histocompatibility Antigens; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D051818:Replication Protein C; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D012568:Schizosaccharomyces / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: C096816:BCL2-related protein A1; D004271:DNA, Fungal; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; C096063:MATA1 protein, S cerevisiae; D015778:Minor Histocompatibility Antigens; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D051818:Replication Protein C