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S Fogel

Publications and source records attributed to S Fogel.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Meiotic gene conversion mutants in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. I. Isolation and characterization of pms1-1 and pms1-2.

The pms1 mutants, isolated on the basis of sharply elevated meiotic prototroph frequencies for two closely linked his4 alleles, display pleiotropic phenotypes in meiotic and mitotic cells. Two isolates carrying recessive mutations in PMS1 were characterized. They identify a function required to maintain low postmeiotic segregation (PMS) frequencies at many heterozygous sites. In addition, they are mitotic mutators. In mutant diploids, spore viability is reduced, and among survivors, gene conversion and postmeiotic segregation frequencies are increased, but reciprocal exchange frequencies are not affected. The conversion event pattern is also dramatically changed in multiply marked regions in pms1 homozygotes. The PMS1 locus maps near MET4 on chromosome XIV. The PMS1 gene may identify an excision-resynthesis long patch mismatch correction function or a function that facilitates correction tract elongation. The PMS1 gene product may also play an important role in spontaneous mitotic mutation avoidance and correction of mismatches in heteroduplex DNA formed during spontaneous and UV-induced mitotic recombination. Based on meiotic recombination models emphasizing mismatch correction in heteroduplex DNA intermediates, this interpretation is favored, but alternative interpretations involving longer recombination intermediates in the mutants are also considered.

Alleles↗

Primary structure and transcription of an amplified genetic locus: the CUP1 locus of yeast.

Copper resistance in yeast is controlled by the CUP1 locus. The level of resistance is proportional to the copy number of this locus, which can be found in up to 15 tandemly iterated copies. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms controlling the amplification and expression of the CUP1, locus, we determined its full nucleotide sequence. We have also identified and mapped two transcription units within the basic amplification unit of CUP1 in laboratory yeast strains. One of those transcription units is inducible by copper and encodes a low molecular weight copper binding protein--copper chelatin. The increased production of chelatin, due to both gene amplification and induction of transcription, leads to increased resistance of yeast cells to copper ions.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Industrial yeasts display tandem gene iteration at the CUP1 region.

The gene copy number at the CUP1 locus and the resistance level to external copper was directly correlated in five wild-type commercial Saccharomyces strains. An increased copy number of the CUP1 gene leads to increased accumulation of chelatin mRNA, which codes for a low-molecular-weight, copper-binding protein. The enhanced production of this rapidly inducible protein mediates resistance of the cell to copper. Industrial yeasts exhibit homologies to the amplified copper resistance repeat unit found in laboratory strains. However, the extent of tandem iteration is strain dependent, and the repetitious unit is either 1.7 or 1.5 kilobases in length compared with the 2.0-kilobase unit in laboratory strains. Strain 522 (Montrachet) contains two chromosome VIII segments distinguishable by their numbers of repeat units (2 and 11) and the size of the units (1.5 and 1.7 kilobases). Distillers yeast 513 carries a 1.5-kilobase repeat unit on each homologous chromosome, although they contain nine and five iterations, respectively.

Copper↗

Tandem gene amplification mediates copper resistance in yeast.

Resistance to copper's toxicity in yeast is controlled by the CUP1r locus. This gene was cloned by transforming sensitive recipients (cup1(8)) with a collection of hybrid DNA molecules, consisting of random yeast DNA fragments inserted into the vector YRp7. Four resistant transformants were studied in detail. Autonomously replicating or integrated by homologous recombination into chromosomal sites, the corresponding plasmids and several subclones confer resistance on sensitive recipients carrying the natural variant allele, cup1(8). Tetrad analysis and genetic mapping established that integration occurs typically at the cup1(8) site located 28 centimorgans distal to thr1, a chromosome VIII marker. Restriction endonuclease cleavage and electrophoretic mobility studies revealed that the CUP1r locus consists of a tandem array of repetitive units. Each unit is 1.95 kilobases in length and contains single sites for Kpn I and Xba I and two Sau3A sites. The sensitive allele represents one repeat and the resistant allele embraces 15 tandemly arrayed repeat units. Progressive selections in higher copper concentrations establish strains with markedly enhanced resistance. Resistance, we propose, is mediated by a gene amplification mechanism based on unequal sister chromatid exchange.

Copper↗

Enhanced biodegradation of methoxychlor in soil under sequential environmental conditions.

Ring-U-[14C]methoxychlor [1,1-bis(p-methoxyphenyl)-2,2,2-trichloroethane] was incubated in soil under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Primary degradation of methoxychlor occurred under anaerobic conditions, but not under aerobic conditions, after 3 months of incubation. Analysis of soil extracts, using gas chromatography, demonstrated that only 10% of the compound remained at initial concentrations of 10 and 100 ppm (wt/wt) of methoxychlor. Evidence is presented that a dechlorination reaction was responsible for primary degradation of methoxychlor. Analysis of soils treated with 100 ppm of methoxychlor in the presence of 2% HgCl2 showed that 100% of the compound remained after 3 months, indicating that degradation in the unpoisoned flasks was biologically mediated. Methanogenic organisms, however, are probably not involved, as strong inhibition of methane production was observed in all soils treated with methoxychlor. During the 3-month incubation period, little or no evaluation of 14CO2 or 14CH4 occurred under either aerobic or anaerobic conditions. Cometabolic processes may be responsible for the extensive molecular changes which occurred with methoxychlor because the rate of its disappearance from soil was observed to level off after exhaustion of soil organic matter. After this incubation period, soils previously incubated under anaerobic conditions were converted to aerobic conditions. The rates of 14CO2 evolution from soils exposed to anaerobic and aerobic sequences of environments ranged from 10- to 70-fold greater than that observed for soils exposed solely to an aerobic environment.

Aerobiosis↗

Yeast mutant defective in phosphatidylserine synthesis.

Phospholipid biosynthesis in a mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (cho1) which lacks phosphatidylserine (Atkinson, K. D., Jensen, B., Storm, E., Kolat, A. I., Henry, S. A. & Fogel, S. (1980) J. Bacteriol. 141, 558-564) has been examined. The ability of cells of this strain to synthesize phosphatidylserine in vitro in a cell-free system is reduced at least 10-fold, whereas other phospholipid-synthesizing activities are present at normal or slightly elevated levels. While all phospholipid biosynthetic activities, except phosphatidylserine synthesis, can be demonstrated in vitro in the cho1 mutant, the entire pattern of phospholipid synthesis, accumulation, and turnover in vivo is distorted. Phosphatidylinositol synthesis is elevated, as is phosphatidylcholine synthesis. In addition, the turnover of phosphatidylcholine is more rapid in the cho1 mutant. The cho1 mutant appears to use almost exclusively the alternative pathway described by Kennedy and Weiss (1956) J. Biol. Chem. 222, 193-214) for the production of phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylcholine, bypassing phosphatidylserine as an intermediate.

Ethanolamines↗

Mitotic recombination in yeast: isolation and characterization of mutants with enhanced spontaneous mitotic gene conversion rates.

Semi-dominant mutants displaying greatly elevated (up to 200-fold above control) levels of spontaneous mitotic recombination have been isolated in a disomic haploid strain of yeast heteroallelic at the arg4 locus. They are designated by the symbol MIC. The mutants variously exhibit associated sensitivity to UV and ionizing radiation and to methyl methanesulfonate, enhanced UV-induced mitotic recombination, and enhanced spontaneous forward mutation rates. Possible enzyme defects and involvement in repair and editing of DNA are discussed. The mutants are expected to simplify the analysis of recombination pathways in yeast.

DNA↗

Yeast mutants auxotrophic for choline or ethanolamine.

Three mutants of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae which require exogenous ethanolamine or choline were isolated. The mutants map to a single locus (cho1) on chromosome V. The lipid composition suggests that cho1 mutants do not synthesize phosphatidylserine under any growth conditions. If phosphatidylethanolamine or phosphatidylcholine, which are usually derived from phosphatidylserine, were synthesized from exogenous ethanolamine or choline, the mutants grew and divided relatively normally. However, mitochondrial abnormalities were evident even when ethanolamine and choline were supplied. Diploids homozygous for the cho1 mutation were defective in sporulation. Growth on nonfermentable carbon sources was slow, and a high proportion of respiratory-deficient (petite) cells were generated in cho1 cultures.

Choline↗

Activation of mating type genes by transposition in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae may express an a or alpha mating type. These cells types may be interconverted as a consequence of heritable genetic alteractions at the mating type locus (MAT). According to the more general controlling element model [Oshima, U. & Takano, I. (1971) Genetics 67, 327--335] and the specific cassette model [Hicks, J., Strathern, J. & Herskowitz, I. (1977) in DNA Insertion Elements, Plasmids and Episomes, eds. Bukhari, A. I., Shapiro, J.A. & Adhya, S. L.(Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY), pp. 457--462], the regulatory information required for switching the MAT locus exists at two other loosely linked loci, HMa and HMalpha. Specifically, the HMa and HMalpha loci are proposed to carry silent alpha and silent a genes, respectively. According to these models, switching occurs when a replica of a silent gene replaces the resident information at the mating type locus and is thereby expressed. These models predict that mutations at the silent ("storage") loci would generate defective MAT loci subsequent to the switching process. Therefore, the behavior of HMalpha mutants during the mating type interconversion was investigated. The results demonstrate that defective MATa alleles are generated by switching the MATalpha locus in HMalpha mutants. Thus, the genetic information from HMalpha is transposed to the mating type locus. These results provide genetic evidence in support of these models.

Alleles↗

Regulatory mutants at the his1 locus of yeast.

The his1 gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae codes for phosphoribosyl transferase, an allosteric enzyme that catalyzes the initial step in histidine biosynthesis. Mutants that specifically alter the feedback regulatory function were isolated by selecting his1 prototrophic revertants that overproduce and excrete histidine. The prototrophs were obtained from diploids homoallelic for his1--7 and heterozygous for the flanking markers thr3 and arg6. Among six independently derived mutant isolates, three distinct levels of histidine excretion were detected. The mutants were shown to be second-site alterations mapping at the his1 locus by recovery of the original auxotrophic parental alleles. The double mutants, HIS1--7e, are dominant with respect to catalytic function but recessive in regulatory function. When removed from this his1--7 background, the mutant regulatory site (HIS1-e) still confers prototrophy but not histidine excretion. To yield the excretion phenotype, the primary and altered secondary sites are required in cis array. Differences in histidine excretion levels correlate with resistance to the histidine analogue, triazoalanine.

Alleles↗

Switching of a mating-type a mutant allele in budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Aimed at investigating the recovery of a specific mutant allele of the mating type locus (MAT) by switching a defective MAT allele, these experiments provide information bearing on several models proposed for MAT interconversion in bakers yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Hybrids between heterothallic (ho) cells carrying a mutant MAT a allele, designated mata-2, and MAT alpha ho strains show a high capacity for mating with MATa strains. The MAT alpha/mata-2 diploids do not sporulate. However, zygotic clones obtained by mating MAT alpha homothallic (HO) cells with mata-2 ho cells are unable to mate and can sporulate. Tetrad analysis of such clones revealed two diploid (MAT alpha/MATa):two haploid segregants. Therefore, MAT switches occur in MAT alpha/mata-2 HO/ho cells to produce MAT alpha/Mata cells capable of sporulation. In heterothallic strains, the mata-2 allele can be switched to a functional MAT alpha and subsequently to a functional MATa. Among 32 MAT alpha to MATa switches tested, where the MAT alpha was previously derived from the mata-2 mutant, only one mata-2 like isolate was observed. However, the recovered allele, unlike the parental allele, complements the matalpha ste1-5 mutant, suggesting that these alleles are not identical and that the recovered allele presumably arose as a mutation of the Mat alpha locus. No mata-2 was recovered by HO-mediated switching of MAT alpha (previously obtained from mata-2 by HO) in 217 switches analyzed. We conclude that in homothallic and heterothallic strains, the mata-2 allele can be readily switched to a functional MAT alpha and subsequently to a functional MATa locus. Overall, the results are in accord with the cassette model (HICKS, STRATHERN and HERSKOWITZ )977b) proposed to explain MAT interconversions.

Alleles↗

Gene conversion of the mating-type locus in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Tetrad analysis of MATa/MAT alpha diploids of Saccharomyces cerevisiae generally yields 2 MATa:2MAT alpha meiotic products. About 1 to 1.8% of the tetrads yield aberrant segregations for this marker. Described here are experiments that determine whether the aberrant meiotic segregations at the mating-type locus are ascribable to gene conversions or to MAT switches, that is, to mating-type interconversions. Diploid strains incapable of switching MATa to MAT alpha, or the converse, nevertheless display changes of MATa to MAT alpha, or the reverse. These events must be attributed to gene conversion. Further, we suggest that MATa and MAT alpha alleles may represent nonhomologous sequences of DNA since they fail to display postmeiotic segregations.

Genes↗

Reversion at the HiS1 locus of yeast.

The his1 gene (chromosome V) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae specifies phosphoribosyl transferase (E.C.2.4.2.17), the first enzyme of histidine biosynthesis. This hexameric enzyme has both catalytic and regulatory functions. The spontaneous reversion rates of seven his1 mutations were studied. The reversion rates of the alleles at the proximal end of the locus (relative to the centromere) were about 50-fold higher than distal alleles. Spontaneous reversion to prototrophy was studied in diploids homoallelic for each of the seven his1 mutations. Based on tetrad analysis, the prototrophy revertants could be assigned to three classes: (1) revertant tetrads that carried a prototrophic allele indistinguishable from wild type; (2) revertant tetrads that carried a prototrophic allele characterized by histidine excretion and feedback resistance; and (3) revertant tetrads that did not contain a prototrophic spore, but rather a newly derived allele that complemented the original allele intragenically. Four of the seven his1 mutations produced the excretor revertant class, and two mutations produced the complementer revertant class. The significance of these findings to our understanding of gene organization and the catalytic and regulatory functions of gene products are discussed.

Alleles↗

Novel interallelic complementation at the his1 locus of yeast.

In yeast, 17 histidine-requiring mutants derived from and interallelically complementary to his1-7 were analyzed. The genetic basis of the complementation response was elucidated by mitotic and meiotic gene conversion. Each allele probably carries an unaltered 7-site mutation and a unique second-site alteration. The second-site alterations appear to be clustered within the proximal and distal segments of the his1 structural gene. Models of intraalelic complementation are reviewed in light of the unique complementational response between a single-site mutant and a double mutant including the identical altered base sequence.

Alleles↗

Association of chromosome loss with centromere-adjacent mitotic recombination in a yeast disomic haploid.

Experiments designed to characterize the association between disomic chromosome loss and centromere-adjacent mitotic recombination were performed. Mitotic gene convertants were selected at two heteroallelic sites on the left arm of disomic chromosome III and tested for coincident chromosome loss. The principal results are: (1) Disomic chromosome loss is markedly enhanced (nearly 40-fold) over basal levels among mitotic gene convertants selected to arise close to the centromere; no such enhancement is observed among convertants selected to arise relatively far from the centromere. (2) Chromosome loss is primarily associated with proximal allele conversion at the centromere-adjacent site, and many of these convertants are reciprocally recombined in the adjacent proximal interval. (3) Partial aneuploid exceptions provisionally identified as carrying left arm telocentrics have been found. A testable model is proposed suggesting that centromere involvement in genetic recombination may precipitate segregational disfunction leading to mitotic chromosome loss.

Alleles↗