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A starvation-specific serine protease gene, isp6 +, is involved in both autophagy and sexual development in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

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Abstract

Schizosaccharomyces pombe isp6 + gene encodes a vacuolar serine protease, which is specifically induced during nitrogen starvation. An isp6-disruption mutant, isp6Δ, grew normally under normal conditions but was defective in large-scale protein degradation during nitrogen starvation, a hallmark of autophagy. Vacuoles are the organelles for such drastic protein degradation but those of isp6Δ were apparently aberrant. isp6Δ was infertile under nitrogen source-free conditions with poor expression of ste11 +, a gene critical for sexual development. A protein kinase A-disruption mutant, pka1Δ, is prone to sexual development because expression of ste11 + is derepressed. However, isp6Δpka1Δ still showed defects in ste11 + expression and sexual development under nitrogen source-free conditions. isp6Δ and isp6Δpka1Δ were able to initiate sexual development to produce spores when only a small amount of a nitrogen source was present. Pat1 protein kinase negatively controls meiosis, and a temperature-sensitive mutant of pat1, pat1-114, initiates meiosis irrespective of ploidy at the restrictive temperature. However, isp6Δpat1-114 did not start meiosis under nitrogen source-free conditions even at the restrictive temperature. These observations suggest that isp6 + contributes to sexual development by providing a nitrogen source through autophagy.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank M. Yamamoto, Y. Watanabe, K. Tanaka, and K. Okazaki for providing the strains and T. Toda, K. Takegawa, and H. Masuda for critical reading of the manuscript. This work was supported in part by the Sasakawa Scientific Research Grant from the Japan Science Society.

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Author notes

  1. Akio Nakashima

    Present address: Biosignal Research Center, Kobe University, 1-1 Rokkodai-cho, Nada-ku, 657-8501, Kobe, Japan

  2. Saori Mori

    Present address: Division for Gene Research, Center for Biological Resources and Informatics, Tokyo Institute of Technology, B-65. 4259, Nagatsuta, Midori-ku, 226-8501, Yokohama, Japan

  3. Masaru Ueno

    Present address: Department of Molecular Biotechnology, Graduate School of Advanced Sciences of Matter, Hiroshima University, 1-3-1 Kagamiyama, 739-8530, Higashi-Hiroshima, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Shizuoka University, 836 Oya, 422-8539, Shizuoka, Japan

    Akio Nakashima, Saori Mori, Masaru Ueno & Masahiro Uritani

  2. Department of Biology and Geoscience, Faculty of Science, Shizuoka University, 836 Oya, 422-8539, Shizuoka, Japan

    Takahiro Hasegawa, Shigeyasu Tanaka & Takashi Ushimaru

  3. Kazusa DNA Research Institute, 292-0812, Kisarazu, Yana, Japan

    Shusei Sato

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  1. Akio Nakashima
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Correspondence to Masahiro Uritani.

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Communicated by C. Hoffman

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Nakashima, A., Hasegawa, T., Mori, S. et al. A starvation-specific serine protease gene, isp6 +, is involved in both autophagy and sexual development in Schizosaccharomyces pombe . Curr Genet 49, 403–413 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00294-006-0067-0

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