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An impaired RNA polymerase II activity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae causes cell-cycle inhibition at START

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Abstract

Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells harboring the temperature-sensitive mutation rpo21-4, in the gene encoding the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II, were shown to be partially impaired for cell-cycle progress at a permissive temperature, and to become permanently blocked at the cell-cycle regulatory step, START, at a restrictive temperature. The rpo21-4 mutation was lethal in combination with cdc28 mutations in the p34 protein kinase gene required for START. Transcripts of the CLN1 and CLN2 genes, encoding G1-cyclin proteins that, along with p34, are necessary for START, were decreased in abundance by the rpo21-4 mutation at a restrictive temperature. Increased G1-cyclin production, by expression of the CLN1 or CLN2 genes from a heterologous GAL promoter, overcame the rpo21-4 — mediated START inhibition, but such mutant cells nevertheless remained unable to proliferate at a restrictive temperature. These findings reveal that START can be particularly sensitive to an impaired RNA polymerase II function, presumably through effects on G1-cyclin expression.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genetics, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Ave Toronto, M5G 1X8, Ontario

    Michael A. Drebot & James D. Friesen

  2. Department of Medical Genetics, University of Toronto, M5S 1A8, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Michael A. Drebot & James D. Friesen

  3. Department of Microbiology & Immunology Dalhousie University, B3H 4H7, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

    Gerald C. Johnston

  4. Department of Biochemistry, Dalhousie University, B3H 4H7, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

    Richard A. Singer

  5. Department of Medicine, Dalhousie University, B3H 4H7, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

    Richard A. Singer

Authors
  1. Michael A. Drebot
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  2. Gerald C. Johnston
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  3. James D. Friesen
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  4. Richard A. Singer
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Communicated by D.Y. Thomas

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Drebot, M.A., Johnston, G.C., Friesen, J.D. et al. An impaired RNA polymerase II activity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae causes cell-cycle inhibition at START. Molec. Gen. Genet. 241, 327–334 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00284685

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00284685

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