Summary
Haploid homothallic strains of Schizosaccharomyces pombe with mutations in any of nine “sterility genes” (ste) do not mate with wild-type fertile strains. Those defective in genes ste1 to ste4 and ste7 to ste9 are also deficient in meiosis and sporulation. I found that the ste1, ste3 and ste8 genes act very early in the sexual development, presumably before the pat1-controlled conjugation-specific event. ste5 and ste6 exert their function downstream of pat1 in the initiation of conjugation and do not play any role in the meiotic pathway. ste2, ste4, ste7 and ste9 are involved in both sexual pathways: they seem to act downstream of pat1 in conjugation but upstream of pat1 in the initiation of meiosis. A new gene, aff1, whose defective allele suppresses the pat1-114-provoked haploid sporulation and arrest of vegetative growth is also described. It is supposed that the aff1 + gene product participates in a cascade of regulatory events, as a factor antagonistic to pat1.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beach D, Rodgers L, Gould J (1985) RAN1+ controls the transition from mitotic division to meiosis in fission yeast. Curr Genet 10:297–311
Castello G, Rodgers L, Beach D (1986) Fission yeast enters the stationary phase G0 state from either mitotic G1 or G2. Curr Genet 11:119–125
Egel R (1971) Physiological aspects of conjugation in fission yeast. Planta 98:89–96
Girgsdies D (1982) Sterile mutants of Schizosaccharomyces pombe: Analysis by somatic hybridization. Curr Genet 6:223–227
Gutz H, Heslot H, Leupold U, Loprieno N (1974) Schizosaccharomyces pombe. In: King RC (ed) Handbook of genetics. Plenum Press, New York, pp 395–446
Iino Y, Yamamoto M (1985a) Mutants of Schizosaccharomyces pombe which sporulate in the haploid state. Mol Gen Genet 198:416–421
Iino Y, Yamamoto M (1985b) Negative control for the initiation of meiosis in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 82:2447–2451
Kohli J (1987) Genetic nomenclature and gene list of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Curr Genet 11:575–589
Kohli J, Hottinger H, Munz P, Strauss A, Thuriaux P (1977) Genetic mapping in Schizosaccharomyces pombe by mitotic and meiotic analysis and induced haploidization. Genetics 87:471–489
Matsumoto K, Uno I, Ishikawa T (1986) Role of cyclic AMP in cell division. In: Hicks J (ed) Yeast cell biology. Liss, New York, pp 101–111
McLeod M, Beach D (1986) Homology between the ran1 + gene of fission yeast and protein kinases. EMBO J 5:3665–3671
Michael M, Gutz H (1987) Sterility (ste) genes of Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Yeast 3:5–9
Nurse P (1985) Mutants of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe which alter the shift between cell proliferation and sporulation. Mol Gen Genet 198:497–502
Nurse P, Bissett Y (1981) Gene required in G1 for committment to cell cycle and in G2 for control of mitosis in fission yeast. Nature 292:558–560
Perkins DD (1949) Biochemical mutants in the smut fungus Ustilago maydis. Genetics 34:607–626
Sipiczki M, Ferenczy L (1977) Protoplast fusion of Schitosaccharomyces pombe auxotrophic mutants of identical mating type. Mol Gen Genet 151:77–81
Sipiczki M, Kucsera J (1983) A possible control mechanism over conjugation and meiotic division in diploid cells of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe var. malidevorans. In: Chaloupka J, Kotyk A, Streiblová E (eds) Progress in cell cycle controls. 6th European Cell Cycle Workshop, Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, Prague, p 191
Sipiczki M, Kucsera J, Ulaszewski S, Zsolt J (1982) Hybridization studies by crossing and protoplast fusion within the genus Schizosaccharomyces Lindner. J Gen Microbiol 128:1989–2000
Sipiczki M, Heyer W-D, Kohli J (1985) Preparation and regeneration of protoplasts and spheroplasts for fusion and transformation of Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Curr Microbiol 12:169–174
Thuriaux P, Sipiczki M, Fantes P (1980) Genetical analysis of a sterile mutant by protoplast fusion in the yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. J Gen Microbiol 116:525–528
Uno I, Matsumoto K, Ishikawa T (1983) Characterization of a cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase-deficient mutant in yeast. J Biol Chem 258:3539–3542
Uno I, Matsumoto K, Ishikawa T (1982) Characterization of cyclic AMP-requiring yeast mutants altered in the regulatory subunit of protein kinase. J Biol Chem 257:14110–14115
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by W. Gajewski
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sipiczki, M. The role of sterility genes (ste and aff) in the initiation of sexual development in Schizosaccharomyces pombe . Mol Gen Genet 213, 529–534 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00339626
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00339626