Fus3-regulated Tec1 degradation through SCFCdc4 determines MAPK signaling specificity during mating in yeast

Signaling specificity is fundamental for parallel mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades that control growth and differentiation in response to different stimuli. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, components of the pheromone-responsive MAPK cascade activate Fus3 and Kss1 MAPKs to induce mating and Kss1 to promote filamentation. Active Fus3 is required to prevent the activation of the filamentation program during pheromone response. How Fus3 prevents the crossactivation is not clear. Here we show that Tec1, a cofactor of Ste12 for the expression of filamentation genes, is rapidly degraded during pheromone response. Fus3 but not Kss1 induces Tec1 ubiquination and degradation through the SCFCdc4 ubiquitin ligase. T273 in a predicted high-affinity Cdc4 binding motif is phosphorylated by Fus3 both in vitro and in vivo. Tec1T273V blocks Tec1 ubiquitination and degradation and allows the induction of filamentation genes in response to pheromone. Thus, Fus3 inhibits filamentous growth during mating by degrading Tec1.     

Persistent activation by constitutive Ste7 promotes Kss1-mediated invasive growth but fails to support Fus3-dependent mating in yeast

Mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase-Ste11 (MAPKKK-Ste11), MAPKK-Ste7, and MAPK-Kss1 mediate pheromone-induced mating differentiation and nutrient-responsive invasive growth in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The mating pathway also requires the scaffold-Ste5 and the additional MAPK-Fus3. One contribution to specificity in this system is thought to come from stimulus-dependent recruitment of the MAPK cascade to upstream activators that are unique to one or the other pathway. To test this premise, we asked if stimulus-independent signaling by constitutive Ste7 would lead to a loss of biological specificity. Instead, we found that constitutive Ste7 promotes invasion without supporting mating responses. This specificity occurs because constitutive Ste7 activates Kss1, but not Fus3, in vivo and promotes filamentation gene expression while suppressing mating gene expression. Differences in the ability of constitutive Ste7 variants to bind the MAPKs and Ste5 account for the selective activation of Kss1. These findings support the model that Fus3 activation in vivo requires binding to both Ste7 and the scaffold-Ste5 but that Kss1 activation is independent of Ste5. This scaffold-independent activation of Kss1 by constitutive Ste7 and the existence of mechanisms for pathway-specific promoter discrimination impose a unique developmental fate independently of any distinguishing external stimuli.     

Control of MAPK specificity by feedback phosphorylation of shared adaptor protein Ste50

Many different signaling pathways share common components but nevertheless invoke distinct physiological responses. In yeast, the adaptor protein Ste50 functions in multiple mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase pathways, each with unique dynamical and developmental properties. Although Kss1 activity is sustained and promotes invasive growth, Hog1 activity is transient and promotes cell adaptation to osmotic stress. Here we show that osmotic stress activates Kss1 as well as Hog1. We show further that Hog1 phosphorylates Ste50 and that phosphorylation of Ste50 limits the duration of Kss1 activation and prevents invasive growth under high osmolarity growth conditions. Thus feedback regulation of a shared component can restrict the activity of a competing MAP kinase to ensure signal fidelity.