Isolation of the RAD18 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and construction of rad18 deletion mutants

Summary The RAD18 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is involved in mutagenic DNA repair. We describe its isolation from a yeast library introduced into the centromeric YCp50 vector, a low copy number plasmid. The insert was sublconed into YCp50 and into the multicopy YRp7 plasmid. RAD18 is not toxic when present in multiple copies but the UV survival response indicates an heterogeneity in the cell population, a fraction of it being more sensitive. A DNA segment, close to RAD18, is toxic on the multicopy plasmid and may correspond to the tRAN sup61 known to be tightly linked to RAD18. Chromosomal deletions of RAD18 were constructed. The gene is not essential and the deleted strains have the properties of single site mutants. Thus, RAD18 appears to be essentially involved in DNA repair metabolism.     

Rad3 protein of Saccharomyces cerevisiae: overexpression and preliminary characterization using specific antibodies

Summary The cloned RAD3 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was tailored into expression vectors for overexpression of Rad3 protein in Escherichia coli and in yeast. In both organisms the overexpressed protein is detected as a species of molecular weight ca. 90 kDa, the size expected from the sequence of the cloned gene. The protein overexpressed in E. coli is largely insoluble; however the insoluble fraction was used to generate affinity-purified polyclonal antisera which proved to be powerful reagents for the initial characterization of Rad3 protein expressed in yeast. These studies showed that: (1) when overexpressed in yeast most of the Rad3 protein is detected in the soluble fraction of cell extracts; (2) endogenous Rad3 protein is untransformed cells is also ca. 90 kDa in size and is located in the cell nucleus; (3) Rad3/-galactosidase fusion protein partially purified on an affinity matrix is associated with DNA-dependent ATPase activity that is inhibited in the presence of anti-Rad3 antibodies, suggesting that Rad3 protein is an ATPase; and (4) Rad3 antibodies cross-react with two electrophoretically distinguishable polypeptides present in the nuclear fraction of human cells, and with a single polypeptide in extracts of Drosophila cell.     

Genetic mapping of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae DNA polymerase I gene and characterization of a pol1 temperature-sensitive mutant altered in DNA primase-polymerase complex stability

Summary The cloned DNA polymerase I gene has been used to map the POL1 locus on the left arm of chromosome XIV, between MET4 and TOP2. Temperature-sensitive mutants in POL1 have been obtained by in vitro mutagenesis of the cloned gene and in vivo replacement of the wild-type allele with the mutated copy. Physiological and biochemical characterization of one temperature-sensitive mutant (pol1-1) shows that cells shifted to the non-permissive temperature can complete one round of cell division and DNA replication before they arrest. Analysis of DNA polymerase I in crude extracts and in partially purified preparations indicates that the pol1-1 mutation results in a conformational change and affects the stability of the DNA primase-polymerase complex.     

Molecular cloning of the RAD10 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

We have cloned the RAD10 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and physically mapped it to a 1.0-kb DNA fragment. Strains containing disruptions of the RAD10 gene were found to show enhanced UV sensitivity compared with the previously characterized rad10-1 or rad10-2 mutants. The UV sensitivity of the disruption mutant is comparable to the highly UV sensitive rad1-19, rad2-delta, and rad3-2 mutants.     

Analysis of mutagenic DNA repair in a thermoconditional mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. III. Dose-response pattern of mutation induction in UV-irradiated rev2ts cells

Summary Recent studies regarding the influence of cycloheximide on the temperature-dependent increase in survival and mutation frequencies of a thermoconditional rev2 mutant lead to the suggestion that the REV2-coded mutagenic repair function is UV-inducible. In the present study we show that stationary-phase rev2 ^ts cells are characterized by a biphasic linear-quadratic dose-dependence of mutation induction (mutation kinetics) of ochre alleles at 23° C (permissive temperature) but linear kinetics at the restrictive temperature of 36° C. Mathematical analysis using a model based on Poisson statistics and a further mathematical procedure, the calculation of apparent survival, support the assumption that the quadratic component of the reverse mutation kinetics investigated can be attributed to a UV-inducible component of mutagenic DNA repair controlled by the REV2 gene.     

The isolation and preliminary characterisation of a novel Escherichia coli mutant rorB with enhanced sensitivity to ionising radiation

Summary Escherichia coli K803 cells were mutagenized and screened for the presence of clones sensitive to -rays but not to ultraviolet light. One new mutant of this type, named rorB, was isolated. This mutant is both cross-sensitive to mitomycin C and shows reduced conjugal recombination frequencies, but to a lesser extent than the phenotypically similar mutant recN. Unlike previously reported mutants of E. coli or yeast with an enhanced sensitivity to ionising radiations, rorB appears to be near wild type in ability to rejoin DNA double-strand breaks. The rorB gene maps close to ilvGEDAC at 84.5 min of the E. coli chromosome.     

Arabidopsis UVH3 gene is a homolog of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae RAD2 and human XPG DNA repair genes

To identify mechanisms of DNA repair in Arabidopsis thaliana, we have analyzed a mutant (uvh3) which exhibits increased sensitivity to ultraviolet (UV) light, H2O2 and ionizing radiation and displays a premature senescence phenotype. The uvh3 locus was mapped within chromosome III to the GL1 locus. A cosmid contig of the GL1 region was constructed, and individual cosmids were used to transform uvh3 mutant plants. Cosmid N9 was found to confer UV-resistance, H2O2-resistance and a normal senescence phenotype following transformation, indicating that the UVH3 gene is located on this cosmid and that all three phenotypes are due to the same mutation. Analysis of cosmid N9 sequences identified a gene showing strong similarity to two homologous repair genes, RAD2 (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and XPG (human), which encode an endonuclease required for nucleotide excision repair of UV-damage. The uvh3 mutant was shown to carry a nonsense mutation in the coding region of the AtRAD2/XPG gene, thus revealing that the UVH3 gene encodes the AtRAD2/XPG gene product. In humans, the homologous XPG protein is also involved in removal of oxygen-damaged nucleotides by base excision repair. We discuss the possibility that the increased sensitivity of the uvh3 mutant to H2O2 and the premature senescence phenotype might result from failure to repair oxygen damage in plant tissues. Finally, we show that the AtRAD2/XPG gene is expressed at moderate levels in all plant tissues.     

Mitochondrial protein import: isolation and characterization of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae MFT1 gene

Summary Mitochondrial targeting of an Atp2-LacZ fusion protein confers a respiration-defective phenotype on yeast cells. This effect has been utilized to select strains that grow on nonfermentable carbon sources, some of which have decreased levels of hybrid protein localized to the organelle. Many of the mutants obtained were also temperature-sensitive for growth on all media. The recessive mft (mitochondrial fusion targeting) mutants have been assigned to three complementation groups. MFT1 was cloned and sequenced: it encodes a 255 amino acid protein that is highly basic and has no predicted membrane-spanning domains or organelle-targeting sequences. The MFT1 gene is 91% identical to an open reading frame 3 of the SIR3 gene. Evidence is presented that these two closely related genes could represent a recent gene duplication.The sequence reported here has been listed in the EMBL Data Library with Accession Number X55360.     

Identification and characterization of a second NMN adenylyltransferase gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The enzyme nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) adenylyltransferase (NMNAT) (EC 2.7.7.1) catalyzes the transfer of the adenylyl moiety of ATP to NMN to form NAD(+). On the basis of a remarkable structural similarity with previously described Saccharomyces cerevisiae NMNAT (yNMNAT-1), the YGR010-encoded protein was identified as a second isoform of yeast NMNAT (yNMNAT-2). The YGR010 gene was isolated, cloned into a T7-based vector, and successfully expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 cells, yielding high level of NMN adenylyltransferase activity. The purification procedure reported in this paper, consisting of two chromatographic steps, allowed the isolation of 3mg of electrophoretically homogeneous yNMNAT-2 from 1 liter of E. coli culture. Under SDS/PAGE, the recombinant protein resulted in a single polypeptide of 46 kDa, in agreement with the molecular mass of the hypothetical protein encoded by YGR010 gene. The N-terminal sequence of the purified recombinant yNMNAT-2 exactly corresponds to the predicted sequence. Molecular and kinetic properties of recombinant yNMNAT-2 are reported and compared with those already known for yNMNAT-1.     

Isolation and characterization of a mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae defective in phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase

A mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae lacking phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (E.C. 4.1.1.32) was isolated. The mutant did not grow on gluconeogenic sources except glycerol. The mutation was recessive and apparently affected the structural gene of the enzyme. Intracellular levels of metabolites related to the metabolic situation of the enzyme were not significantly affected after transfer of the mutant from a medium with glycerol to a medium with ethanol as carbon source. In these conditions only AMP decreased 3 to 5 times. A search for mutants affected in the other gluconeogenic enzyme, fructose 1,6 bisphosphatase, remained unsuccessful.Abbreviation PEPCK phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (E.C. 4.1.1.32)     

Molecular characterization of a specific p-nitrophenylphosphatase gene, PHO13, and its mapping by chromosome fragmentation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Summary The structural gene, PHO13, for the specific p-nitrophenyl phosphatase of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was cloned and its nucleotide sequence determined. The deduced PHO13 protein consists of 312 amino acids and its molecular weight is 34635. The disruption of the PHO13 gene produced no effect on cell growth, sporulation, or viability of ascospores. The PHO13 locus was mapped at 1.9 centimorgans from the HO locus on the left arm of chromosome IV. By chromosome fragmentation, the PHO13 locus was found to be located about 72 kb from the left-hand telomere of chromosome IV and distal to the HO locus.     

Isolation of Arabidopsis thaliana mutants hypersensitive to gamma radiation

A screening method for mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana hypersensitive to -radiation has been devised. Plants grown from ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS)-treated seeds were irradiated at the seedling stage, which is highly radiosensitive due to extensive cell division. Severe growth inhibition of mutant plants by a -ray dose which only slightly affects wild-type plants was the selective criterion. Twelve true-breeding hyper-sensitive lines were isolated from a total of 3394 screened plants. Genetic analysis of five of the lines revealed five new genes, designated RAD1-RAD5. These Arabidopsis RAD mutants are phenotypically similar to mutants in the RAD52 epistasis group of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which are highly sensitive to ionizing radiation but not hypersensitive to UV light. One possibility is that the Arabidopsis mutants are defective in a nonhomologous or illegitimate recombination mechanism used by plants for repair of chromosome breaks.     

The PSO3 gene is involved in error-prone intragenic recombinational DNA repair in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Summary The induction of gene conversion and mitotic crossing-over by photoaddition of psoralens, 254 nm ultraviolet radiation, and nitrogen mustards was determined in diploid cells homozygous for the pso3-1 mutation and in the corresponding wild type of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. For these different agents, the frequency of non-reciprocal events (conversion) is reduced in the pso3-1 mutant compared to the wild type. In contrast, the frequency of reciprocal events (crossing-over) is increased at a range of doses. These observations, together with the block in induced mutagenesis for both reverse and forward mutations previously reported for the pso3-1 mutant, suggest that the PS03 gene product plays a role in mismatch repair of short patch regions. The block in gene conversion in the pso3 homozygous diploid leads, in the case of nitrogen mustards, to specific repair intermediates which are lethal to the cells.