title: Nuclear localization of the meiosis-specific transcription factor Ndt80 is regulated by the pachytene checkpoint.
abstract: In budding yeast, the Ndt80 protein is a meiosis-specific transcription factor that is essential for the exit of pachytene and progression into nuclear divisions and spore formation. The pachytene checkpoint responds to defects in meiotic recombination and chromosome synapsis and negatively regulates the activity of Ndt80. The activity of Ndt80 was suggested to be regulated at both transcriptional and posttranslational levels; however, the mechanism for posttranslational regulation of Ndt80 was unclear. From a study of ndt80 in-frame deletion mutations, we have identified a dominant mutation NDT80-bc, which is able to completely bypass the pachytene checkpoint. The NDT80-bc mutation relieves the checkpoint-mediated arrest of the zip1, dmc1, and hop2 mutants, producing spores with low viability. The NDT80-bc mutant provides direct evidence for the posttranslational control of Ndt80 activity. Furthermore, the data presented show that Ndt80 is retained in cytoplasm in the zip1 mutant, whereas Ndt80-bc is found in the nucleus. We propose that the nuclear localization of Ndt80 is regulated by the pachytene checkpoint through a cytoplasmic anchor mechanism.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan 10617, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Chun-Yu
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Jing-Fen
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Kuei-Shu
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Tung
mesh_terms: D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D008540:Meiosis; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D049471:Pachytene Stage; D010641:Phenotype; D021381:Protein Transport; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D013172:Spores, Fungal / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C097071:NDT80 protein, S cerevisiae; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C090118:Zip1 protein, S cerevisiae