Summary
A procedure for the determination of the frequency of mating type switching in heterothallic strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was worked out. In cell populations irradiated with X-rays the frequencies of switching were enhanced in a dose-dependent manner. The possible implication of this finding for understanding the mechanism of carcinogenesis is discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arber W, Jida S, Jütte H, Caspers P, Meyer J, Hänni C (1978) Rearrangements of genetic material in E. coli as observed on the bacteriophage P1 plasmid. Cold Spring Harb Symp quant Biol 43:1197–1208
Cairns J (1981) The origin of human cancers. Nature 289:353–357
Davies PJ, Evans WE, Parry JM (1975) Mitotic recombination induced by chemical and physical agents in the yeast. S. cerevisiae. Mutation Res 29:301–314
Echols H (1981) SOS functions, cancer and inducible evolution. Cell 25:1–2
Eckardt F, Haynes RH (1980) Quantitative measures of mutagenicity and mutability based on mutant yield data. Mutation Res 74:439–458
Fabre F, Roman H (1977) Genetic evidence for inducibility of recombination competence in yeast. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 74:1667–1671
Haber JE, Rogers DT, McCusker JH (1980) Homothallic conversion of yeast mating-type genes occur by intrachromosomal recombination. Cell 22:277–289
Hawthorne DC (1963) A deletion in yeast and its bearing on the structure of the mating-type locus. Genetics 48:1727–1729
Herskowitz I, Blair L, Forbes D, Hicks J, Kassir Y, Kushner P, Rine J, Sprague G, Jr., Strathern J (1980) Control of cell type in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and a hypothesis for development in higher eukaryotes. In: Loomis W, Leighton T (eds) Molecular genetics of development. Academic Press, New York, p 79–118
Hicks J, Strathern JN, Klar AJS (1979) Transposable mating-type genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Nature 282:478–483
Klar AJS, Fogel S, Macleod K (1979) MAR1 — a regulator of the HMa and HMα loci in S. cerevisiae. Genetics 93:37–50
Klar AJS, McIndoo J, Hicks JB, Strathern JN (1980) Precise mapping of the homothallism genes HML and HMR in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Genetics 96:315–320
Klein G (1981) The role of gene dosage and genetic transpositions in carcinogenesis. Nature 294:313–318
Malone RE, Esposito RE (1980) The RAD 52 gene is required for homothallic interconversion of mating-types and spontaneous mitotic recombination in yeast. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 77:503–507
Olson LW, Zimmermann FK (1978) Mitotic recombination in the absence of synaptonemal complexes in S. cerevisiae. Mol Gen Genet 166:161–165
Saedler H, Starlinger P (1967) 0° Mutations in the galactose operon in E. coli. I. genetic characterization. Mol Gen Genet 100:178–189
Strathern JN, Herskowitz I (1979) Asymetry and directionality in production of new cell types during clonal growth: the switching pattern of homothallic yeast. Cell 17:371–381
Strathern JN, Newlon CS, Herskowitz I, Hicks JB (1979) Isolation of a circular derivative of yeast chromosome III: Implications for the mechanism of mating-type interconversion. Cell 18:309–319
Weiffenbach B, Haber JE (1981) Homothallic mating-type switching generates lethal chromosome breaks in rad 52 strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol Cell Biol 1:522–534
Wintersberger U (1982) Chemical carcinogenesis — the price for DNA-repair? Naturwissenschaften 69:107–113
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by H. Saedler
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Schiestl, R., Wintersberger, U. X-ray enhances mating type switching in heterothallic strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae . Mol Gen Genet 186, 512–517 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00337958
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00337958