Cellular morphogenesis in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell cycle: localization of the CDC11 gene product and the timing of events at the budding site

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae CDC3, CDC10, CDC11, and CDC12 genes encode a family of homologous proteins that are not closely related to other known proteins [Haarer BK, Ketcham SR, Ford SK, Ashcroft DJ, and Pringle JR (submitted)]. Temperature-sensitive mutants defective in any of these four genes display essentially identical pleiotropic phenotypes that include abnormal cell-wall deposition and bud growth, an inability to complete cytokinesis, and a failure to form the ring of 10 nm filaments that normally lies directly subjacent to the plasma membrane in the neck region of budding cells. We showed previously that the CDC3 and CDC12 gene products localize to the region of the mother-bud neck and are probably constituents of the ring of 10 nm filaments. We now report the generation of polyclonal antibodies specific for the CDC11 product (Cdc11p) and the use of these antibodies in immunofluorescence experiments with wild-type and mutant cells. The results suggest that Cdc11p is also a constituent of the filament ring, and thus support the hypothesis that the S. cerevisiae 10 nm filaments represent a novel type of eukaryotic cytoskeletal element. Cdc11p and actin both localize to the budding site well in advance of bud emergence and at approximately the same time, and both proteins also remain localized at the old budding site for some time after cytokinesis. Cdc11p also localizes to regions of cell-wall reorganization in mating cells and in cells responding to purified mating pheromone. Surprisingly, most preparations of affinity purified Cdc11p-specific antibodies also stained the nuclear and cytoplasmic microtubules. Although this staining probably reflects the existence of an epitope shared by Cdc11p and some microtubule-associated protein, the possibility that a fraction of the Cdc11p is associated with the microtubules could not be eliminated.     

Characterization of the CDC10 product and the timing of events of the budding site of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Budding cells of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae possess a ring of septin filaments of unknown biochemical nature that lies under the inner surface of the plasma membrane in the neck that connects the mother cell to its bud. Mutants, defective in any of the four genes (CDC3, CDC10, CDC11, CDC12), lack these septin filaments and display a pleiotropic phenotype that involves abnormal bud growth and an inability to complete cytokinesis. The cloned CDC10 was fused to bacterial genes to generate antibodies specific for the CDC10 product was a constituent of the septin filaments. Cdc10p-specific antibodies for septin staining and actin-specific rhodamine-phalloidine were used to investigate the timing of the localization of septin and actin at the budding site using the immunofluorescence microscopic technique. In wild-type cells, the timing of the appearance and disappearance of these proteins was indistinguishable. In addition, the cdc10 mutant did not prevent actin localization at the budding site. The mutant that was blocked in the actin function also did not prevent the septin localization of the Cdc10p. This result may suggest an organizational independence between these proteins in the bud formation. Finally, the localization of septin and actin in the cdc24 mutant cell was examined. It was found that the CDC24 function was necessary for the organization of septin and actin at the budding site.     

Roles of the CDC24 gene product in cellular morphogenesis during the Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell cycle

Temperature-sensitive yeast mutants defective in gene CDC24 continued to grow (i.e., increase in cell mass and cell volume) at restrictive temperature (36 degrees C) but were unable to form buds. Staining with the fluorescent dye Calcofluor showed that the mutants were also unable to form normal bud scars (the discrete chitin rings formed in the cell wall at budding sites) at 36 degrees C; instead, large amounts of chitin were deposited randomly over the surfaces of the growing unbudded cells. Labeling of cell-wall mannan with fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated concanavalin A suggested that mannan incorporation was also delocalized in mutant cells grown at 36 degrees C. Although the mutants have well-defined execution points just before bud emergence, inactivation of the CDC24 gene product in budded cells led both to selective growth of mother cells rather than of buds and to delocalized chitin deposition, indicating that the CDC24 gene product functions in the normal localization of growth in budded as well as in unbudded cells. Growth of the mutant strains at temperatures less than 36 degrees C revealed allele-specific differences in behavior. Two strains produced buds of abnormal shape during growth at 33 degrees C. Moreover, these same strains displayed abnormal localization of budding sites when growth at 24 degrees C (the normal permissive temperature for the mutants); in each case, the abnormal pattern of budding sites segregated with the temperature sensitivity in crosses. Thus, the CDC24 gene product seems to be involved in selection of the budding site, formation of the chitin ring at that site, the subsequent localization of new cell wall growth to the budding site and the growing bud, and the balance between tip growth and uniform growth of the bud that leads to the normal cell shape.     

Subcellular localization of a protein kinase required for cell cycle initiation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: evidence for an association between the CDC28 gene product and the insoluble cytoplasmic matrix

The product of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene CDC28, a protein kinase required for initiation of the cell division cycle, was localized within yeast cells. By using immunofluorescence methods, the CDC28 product was shown to be primarily cytoplasmic in distribution. The gene product was localized largely to the particulate fraction by differential centrifugation after mechanical disruption in aqueous buffers. The particulate association was not affected by the presence of nonionic detergent. To refine this localization further, a procedure was developed for the preparation of yeast cytoplasmic matrices which resemble the cytoskeletons of vertebrate cells on the basis of methodology, immunochemistry, and gross ultrastructure. A portion of the CDC28 product was found to be tightly associated with these detergent-insoluble cytoplasmic matrices by both immunofluorescence and immunoblotting procedures. Although, for technical reasons, precise quantitation was not possible, it is estimated that a minimum of 2-15% of the total CDC28 product pool is involved in the association with the insoluble matrix. Alcohol dehydrogenase, a soluble cytoplasmic protein, was found not to be associated with the cytoplasmic matrices at any detectable level, whereas, in contrast, approximately 10-40% of the total cellular actin, a bonafide cytoskeletal protein, was present in these structures. The proportion of CDC28 gene product associated with the particulate fraction, and perhaps the insoluble matrix, appears to be substantially decreased during the preparation of spheroplasts.     

Interaction between the Saccharomyces cerevisiae CDC25 gene product and mammalian ras.

In order to characterize the interaction between the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Cdc25 protein and Harvey-ras (p21H-ras), we have constructed a yeast strain disrupted at the RAS1 and RAS2 loci, expressing both p21H-ras and the catalytic domain of the bovine GTPase activating protein (GAP) and containing the cdc25-2 mutation. Such a strain exhibits a temperature-sensitive phenotype. The shift to the nonpermissive temperature is accompanied by the loss of guanyl nucleotide-dependent activity of adenylylcyclase in vitro. The temperature-sensitive phenotype can be rescued by CDC25 itself, as well as by a plasmid containing a truncated SDC25 gene. In addition, wild type CDC25 significantly improves the guanyl nucleotide response observed in the background of the cdc25ts allele at the permissive temperature in a dosage-dependent manner and restores the guanyl nucleotide response at the restrictive temperature. Both CDC25 and a truncated SDC25 also restored p21H-ras-dependent guanyl nucleotide response in a strain isogenic to the one described above but containing a disrupted CDC25 locus instead of the temperature-sensitive allele. These results suggest that the S. cerevisiae Cdc25 protein interacts with p21H-ras expressed in yeast by promoting GDP-GTP exchange. It follows that the yeast system can be used for characterizing the interaction between guanyl nucleotide exchangers of Ras proteins and mammalian p21H-ras.     

Regulation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae CDC7 function during the cell cycle.

The yeast Cdc7 function is required for the G1/S transition and is dependent on passage through START, a point controlled by the Cdc28/cdc2/p34 protein kinase. CDC7 encodes a protein kinase activity, and we now show that this kinase activity varies in the cell cycle but that protein levels appear to remain constant. We present several lines of evidence that periodic activation of CDC7 kinase is at least in part through phosphorylation. First, the kinase activity of the Cdc7 protein is destroyed by dephosphorylation of the protein in vitro with phosphatase. Second, Cdc7 protein is hypophosphorylated and inactive as a kinase in extracts of cells arrested at START but becomes active and maximally phosphorylated subsequent to passage through START. The phosphorylation pattern of Cdc7 protein is complex. Phosphopeptide mapping reveals four phosphopeptides in Cdc7 prepared from asynchronous yeast cells. Both autophosphorylation and phosphorylation in trans appear to contribute to this pattern. Autophosphorylation is shown to occur by using a thermolabile Cdc7 protein. A protein in yeast extracts can phosphorylate and activate Cdc7 protein made in Escherichia coli, and phosphorylation is thermolabile in cdc28 mutant extracts. Cdc7 protein carrying a serine to alanine change in the consensus recognition site for Cdc28 kinase shows an altered phosphopeptide map, suggesting that this site is important in determining the overall Cdc7 phosphorylation pattern.     

Spindle dynamics and cell cycle regulation of dynein in the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae

We have used time-lapse digital- and video-enhanced differential interference contrast (DE-DIC, VE-DIC) microscopy to study the role of dynein in spindle and nuclear dynamics in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The real-time analysis reveals six stages in the spindle cycle. Anaphase B onset appears marked by a rapid phase of spindle elongation, simultaneous with nuclear migration into the daughter cell. The onset and kinetics of rapid spindle elongation are identical in wild type and dynein mutants. In the absence of dynein the nucleus does not migrate as close to the neck as in wild-type cells and initial spindle elongation is confined primarily to the mother cell. Rapid oscillations of the elongating spindle between the mother and bud are observed in wild-type cells, followed by a slower growth phase until the spindle reaches its maximal length. This stage is protracted in the dynein mutants and devoid of oscillatory motion. Thus dynein is required for rapid penetration of the nucleus into the bud and anaphase B spindle dynamics. Genetic analysis reveals that in the absence of a functional central spindle (ndcl), dynein is essential for chromosome movement into the bud. Immunofluorescent localization of dynein-beta- galactosidase fusion proteins reveals that dynein is associated with spindle pole bodies and the cell cortex: with spindle pole body localization dependent on intact microtubules. A kinetic analysis of nuclear movement also revealed that cytokinesis is delayed until nuclear translocation is completed, indicative of a surveillance pathway monitoring nuclear transit into the bud.     

CDC42 and CDC43, two additional genes involved in budding and the establishment of cell polarity in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Budding in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae involves a polarized deposition of new cell surface material that is associated with a highly asymmetric disposition of the actin cytoskeleton. Mutants defective in gene CDC24, which are unable to bud or establish cell polarity, have been of great interest with regard to both the mechanisms of cellular morphogenesis and the mechanisms that coordinate cell-cycle events. To gain further insights into these problems, we sought additional mutants with defects in budding. We report here that temperature-sensitive mutants defective in genes CDC42 and CDC43, like cdc24 mutants, fail to bud but continue growth at restrictive temperature, and thus arrest as large unbudded cells. Nearly all of the arrested cells appear to begin nuclear cycles (as judged by the occurrence of DNA replication and the formation and elongation of mitotic spindles), and many go on to complete nuclear division, supporting the hypothesis that the events associated with budding and those of the nuclear cycle represent two independent pathways within the cell cycle. The arrested mutant cells display delocalized cell- surface deposition associated with a loss of asymmetry of the actin cytoskeleton. CDC42 maps distal to the rDNA on chromosome XII and CDC43 maps near lys5 on chromosome VII.     

Preliminary characterization of the transcriptional and translational products of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell division cycle gene CDC28.

The CDC28 gene was subcloned from a plasmid containing a 6.5-kilobase-pair segment of Saccharomyces cerevisiae DNA YRp7(CDC28-3) by partial digestion with Sau3A and insertion of the resulting fragments into the BamHI sites of YRp7 and pRC1. Recombinant plasmids were obtained containing inserts of 4.4 and 3.1 kilobase pairs which were capable of complementing a cdc28(ts) mutation. R-loop analysis indicated that each yeast insert contained two RNA coding regions of about 0.8 and 1.0 kilobase pairs, respectively. In vitro mutagenesis experiments suggested that the smaller coding region corresponded to the CDC28 gene. When cellular polyadenylic acid-containing RNA, separated by agarose gel electrophoresis after denaturation with glyoxal and transferred to nitrocellulose membrane, was reacted with labeled DNA from the smaller coding region, and RNA species of about 1 kilobase in length was detected. Presumably, the discrepancy in size between the R-loop and electrophoretic determinations is due to a segment of polyadenylic acid which is excluded from the R-loops. By using hybridization of the histone H2B mRNAs to an appropriate probe as a previously determined standards, it was possible to estimate the number of CDC28 mRNA copies per haploid cell as between 6 and 12 molecules. Hybrid release translation performed on the CDC29 mRNA directed the synthesis of a polypeptide of 27,000 daltons, as determined by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate. This polypeptide was not synthesized when mRNA prepared from a cdc28 nonsense mutant was translated in a parallel fashion. However, if the RNA from a cell containing the CDC28 gene on a plasmid maintained at a high copy number was translated, the amount of in vitro product was amplified fivefold.     

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene CDC40/PRP17 controls cell cycle progression through splicing of the ANC1 gene

The timing of events in the cell cycle is of crucial importance, as any error can lead to cell death or cancerous growth. This accurate timing is accomplished through the activation of specific CDC genes. Mutations in the CDC40/PRP17 gene cause cell cycle arrest at the G₂/M stage. It was previously found that the CDC40 gene encodes a pre-mRNA splicing factor, which participates in the second step of the splicing reaction. In this paper we dissect the mechanism by which pre-mRNA splicing affects cell cycle progression. We identify ANC1 as the target of CDC40 regulation. Deletion of the ANC1 intron relieves the cell cycle arrest and temperature sensitivity of cdc40 mutants. Furthermore, we identify, through point mutation analysis, specific residues in the ANC1 intron that are important for its splicing dependency on Cdc40p. Our results demonstrate a novel mechanism of cell cycle regulation that relies on the differential splicing of a subset of introns by specific splicing factors.     

Immunofluorescence localization of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae CDC12 gene product to the vicinity of the 10-nm filaments in the mother-bud neck.

Budding cells of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae possess a ring of 10-nm-diameter filaments, of unknown biochemical nature, that lies just inside the plasma membrane in the neck connecting the mother cell to its bud (B. Byers and L. Goetsch, J. Cell Biol. 69:717-721, 1976). Mutants defective in any of four genes (CDC3, CDC10, CDC11, and CDC12) lack these filaments and display a pleiotropic phenotype that involves abnormal bud growth and cell-wall deposition and an inability to complete cytokinesis. We fused the cloned CDC12 gene to the Escherichia coli lacZ and trpE genes and used the resulting fusion proteins to raise polyclonal antibodies specific for the CDC12 gene product. In immunofluorescence experiments with affinity-purified antibodies, the neck region of wild-type and mutant cells stained in patterns consistent with the hypothesis that the CDC12 gene product is a constituent of the ring of 10-nm filaments. Without careful affinity purification of the CDC12-specific antibodies, these staining patterns were completely obscured by the staining of residual cell wall components in the neck by antibodies present even in the "preimmune" sera of all rabbits tested.     

DNA ligase I from Saccharomyces cerevisiae: physical and biochemical characterization of the CDC9 gene product.

Genetic studies have previously demonstrated that the Saccharomyces cerevisiae CDC9 gene product, which is functionally homologous to mammalian DNA ligase I, is required for DNA replication and is also involved in DNA repair and genetic recombination. In the present study we have purified the yeast enzyme. When measured under denaturing conditions, Cdc9 protein has a polypeptide molecular mass of 87 kDa. The native form of the enzyme is an 80-kDa asymmetric monomer. Both estimates are in good agreement with the M(r) = 84,406 predicted from the translated sequence of the CDC9 gene. Cdc9 DNA ligase acts via the same basic reaction mechanism employed by all known ATP-dependent DNA ligases. The catalytic functions reside in a 70-kDa C-terminal domain that is conserved in mammalian DNA ligase I and in Cdc17 DNA ligase from Schizosaccharomyces pombe. The ATP analog ATP alpha S inhibits the ligation reaction, although Cdc9 protein does form an enzyme-thioadenylate intermediate. Since Cdc9 DNA ligase exhibited the same substrate specificity as mammalian DNA ligase I, this enzyme can be considered to be the DNA ligase I of S. cerevisiae. There is genetic evidence suggesting that DNA ligase may be directly involved in error-prone DNA repair. We examined the ability of Cdc9 DNA ligase to join nicks with mismatches at the termini. Mismatches at the 5' termini of nicks had very little effect on ligation, whereas mismatches opposite a purine at 3' termini inhibited DNA ligation. The joining of DNA molecules with mismatched termini by DNA ligase may be responsible for the generation of mutations.     

Changes in carbohydrate composition and trehalase-activity during the budding cycle of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Summary The carbohydrate composition and the specific activity of the trehalase of cyclic partially synchronised yeast populations have been investigated. Under glucose limitation and appropriate cultural conditions synchronous growth in a chemostat was achieved. The cells accumulated the reserve carbohydrates during the single cell phase between two buddings. The rapid degradation of part of these reserves began shortly before the swelling of the bud. The importance of the mobilisation of endogenous reserves for the development of the cell is discussed.The specific activity of the trehalase changed during the budding cycle. The result gives rise to the assumption that the synthesis of this enzyme is linked to the growth cycle.     

Mutations in cell division cycle genes CDC36 and CDC39 activate the Saccharomyces cerevisiae mating pheromone response pathway.

Conditional mutations in the genes CDC36 and CDC39 cause arrest in the G1 phase of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell cycle at the restrictive temperature. We present evidence that this arrest is a consequence of a mutational activation of the mating pheromone response. cdc36 and cdc39 mutants expressed pheromone-inducible genes in the absence of pheromone and conjugated in the absence of a mating pheromone receptor. On the other hand, cells lacking the G beta subunit or overproducing the G alpha subunit of the transducing G protein that couples the receptor to the pheromone response pathway prevented constitutive activation of the pathway in cdc36 and cdc39 mutants. These epistasis relationships imply that the CDC36 and CDC39 gene products act at the level of the transducing G protein. The CDC36 and CDC39 gene products have a role in cellular processes other than the mating pheromone response. A mating-type heterozygous diploid cell, homozygous for either the cdc36 or cdc39 mutation, does not exhibit the G1 arrest phenotype but arrests asynchronously with respect to the cell cycle. A similar asynchronous arrest was observed in cdc36 and cdc39 cells where the pheromone response pathway had been inactivated by mutations in the transducing G protein. Furthermore, cdc36 and cdc39 mutants, when grown on carbon catabolite-derepressing medium, did not arrest in G1 and did not induce pheromone-specific genes at the restrictive temperature.     

Chitin synthesis and localization in cell division cycle mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell cycle mutants cdc3, cdc4, cdc7, cdc24, and cdc28 at a nonpermissive temperature (37 degrees C) resulted in increased accumulation of chitin relative to other cell wall components, as compared with that observed at a permissive temperature (25 degrees C). Wild-type cells showed the same chitin/carbohydrate ratio at both temperatures, whereas mutants cdc13 and cdc21 yielded only a small increase in the ratio at 37 degrees C. These results confirm and extend those reported by B. F. Sloat and J. R. Pringle (Science 200:1171-1173, 1978) for mutant cdc24. The distribution of chitin in the cell wall was studied by electron microscopy, by specific staining with wheat germ agglutinin-colloidal gold complexes. At the permissive temperature, chitin was restricted to the septal region in all strains, whereas at 37 degrees C a generalized distribution of chitin in the cell wall was observed in all mutants. These results do not support a unique interdependence between the product of the cdc24 gene and localization of chitin deposition; they suggest that unbalanced conditions created in the cell by arresting the cycle at different stages result in generalized activation of the chitin synthetase zymogen. Thus, blockage of an event in the cell cycle may lead to consequences that are not functionally related to that event under normal conditions.     

Cloning and characterization of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae CDC6 gene.

The yeast cell division cycle gene CDC6 was isolated by complementation of a temperature-sensitive cdc6 mutant with a genomic library. The amino acid sequence of the 48 kDalton CDC6 gene product, as deduced from DNA sequence data, includes the three consensus peptide motifs involved in guanine nucleotide binding and GTPase activity, a target site for cAMP-dependent protein kinase and a carboxy-terminal domain related to metallothionein sequences. A plasmid-encoded CDC6-beta-galactosidase hybrid protein was located at the plasma membrane by indirect immunofluorescence. Disruption experiments indicate that the CDC6 gene product is essential for mitotic growth.     

The product of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell cycle gene DBF2 has homology with protein kinases and is periodically expressed in the cell cycle.

Several Saccharomyces cerevisiae dbf mutants defective in DNA synthesis have been described previously. In this paper, one of them, dbf2, is characterized in detail. The DBF2 gene has been cloned and mapped, and its nucleotide sequence has been determined. This process has identified an open reading frame capable of encoding a protein of molecular weight 64,883 (561 amino acids). The deduced amino acid sequence contains all 11 conserved domains found in various protein kinases. DBF2 was periodically expressed in the cell cycle at a time that clearly differed from the time of expression of either the histone H2A or DNA polymerase I gene. Its first function was completed very near to initiation of DNA synthesis. However, DNA synthesis in the mutant was only delayed at 37 degrees C, and the cells blocked in nuclear division. Consistent with this finding, the execution point occurred about 1 h after DNA synthesis, and the nuclear morphology of the mutant at the restrictive temperature was that of cells blocked in late nuclear division. DBF2 is therefore likely to encode a protein kinase that may function in initiation of DNA synthesis and also in late nuclear division.