The product of the PRP4 gene of S. cerevisiae shows homology to beta subunits of G proteins

Ssn6-Tup1 is a general repressor of transcription in yeast

The homeodomain protein alpha 2 and the SRF-like protein Mcm1 are required to establish cell type in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Together, these regulatory proteins recognize a specific DNA operator, marking a set of genes for transcriptional repression. In this paper, we show that occupancy of the operator by alpha 2-Mcm1 is not sufficient to bring about repression. Rather, repression is effected only when Ssn6 (a TPR protein) and Tup1 (a beta-transducin repeat protein) are also present in the cell. We show that Ssn6 represses transcription when brought to a promoter by a bacterial DNA-binding domain and that Tup1 is required for this repression. Based on these and other results, we propose that Ssn6-Tup1 is a general repressor of transcription in yeast, recruited to target promoters by a variety of sequence-specific DNA-binding proteins.

Messenger RNA splicing in yeast: clues to why the spliceosome is a ribonucleoprotein

The removal of introns from eukaryotic messenger RNA precursors shares mechanistic characteristics with the self-splicing of certain introns, prompting speculation that the catalytic reactions of nuclear pre-messenger RNA splicing are fundamentally RNA-based. The participation of five small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs) in splicing is now well documented. Genetic analysis in yeast has revealed the requirement, in addition, for several dozen proteins. Some of these are tightly bound to snRNAs to form small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNPs); such proteins may promote interactions between snRNAs or between an snRNA and the intron. Other, non-snRNP proteins appear to associate transiently with the spliceosome. Some of these factors, which include RNA-dependent adenosine triphosphatases, may promote the accurate recognition of introns.

The CYC8 and TUP1 proteins involved in glucose repression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae are associated in a protein complex

Mutations of yeast CYC8 or TUP1 genes greatly reduce the degree of glucose repression of many genes and affect other regulatory pathways, including mating type. The predicted CYC8 protein contains 10 copies of the 34-amino-acid tetratricopeptide repeat unit, and the predicted TUP1 protein has six repeated regions found in the beta subunit of heterotrimeric G proteins. The absence of DNA-binding motifs and the presence of these repeated domains suggest that the CYC8 and TUP1 proteins function via protein-protein interaction with transcriptional regulatory proteins. We raised polyclonal antibodies against TrpE-CYC8 and TrpE-TUP1 fusion proteins expressed in Escherichia coli. The CYC8 and TUP1 proteins from yeast cells were detected as closely spaced doublets on Western immunoblots of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. Western blots of nondenaturing gels revealed that both proteins are associated in a high-molecular-weight complex with an apparent size of 1,200 kDa. In extracts from delta cyc8 strains, the size of the complex is reduced to 830 kDa. The CYC8 and TUP1 proteins were coprecipitated by either antiserum, further supporting the conclusion that they are associated with each other. The complex could be reconstituted in vitro by mixing extracts from strains with complementary mutations in the CYC8 and TUP1 genes.

A U6 snRNA gene with an internal promoter is juxtaposed to an snRNP protein sequence within an intron of a human G protein gene

A complex locus on human chromosome 1 brings together sequences homologous to a G protein and two components of the RNA processing machinery of eukaryotic cells. Specifically, the seventh intron of the human Gi3 alpha gene contains a fusion of a partial snRNP E protein pseudogene to a variant U6 snRNA gene. The novel U6 sequence contains nine point mutations and a one nucleotide deletion relative to the major U6 genes from humans. Unlike all other vertebrate U6 genes characterized to date, the variant U6 gene is efficiently transcribed by RNA polymerase III even in the absence of all natural flanking sequences. The union of elements from the signal transduction pathway and the RNA processing machinery suggests the possibility of functional interplay.

The CYC8 and TUP1 proteins involved in glucose repression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae are associated in a protein complex

Mutations of yeast CYC8 or TUP1 genes greatly reduce the degree of glucose repression of many genes and affect other regulatory pathways, including mating type. The predicted CYC8 protein contains 10 copies of the 34-amino-acid tetratricopeptide repeat unit, and the predicted TUP1 protein has six repeated regions found in the beta subunit of heterotrimeric G proteins. The absence of DNA-binding motifs and the presence of these repeated domains suggest that the CYC8 and TUP1 proteins function via protein-protein interaction with transcriptional regulatory proteins. We raised polyclonal antibodies against TrpE-CYC8 and TrpE-TUP1 fusion proteins expressed in Escherichia coli. The CYC8 and TUP1 proteins from yeast cells were detected as closely spaced doublets on Western immunoblots of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. Western blots of nondenaturing gels revealed that both proteins are associated in a high-molecular-weight complex with an apparent size of 1,200 kDa. In extracts from delta cyc8 strains, the size of the complex is reduced to 830 kDa. The CYC8 and TUP1 proteins were coprecipitated by either antiserum, further supporting the conclusion that they are associated with each other. The complex could be reconstituted in vitro by mixing extracts from strains with complementary mutations in the CYC8 and TUP1 genes.

Diversity of G proteins in signal transduction

The heterotrimeric guanine nucleotide-binding proteins (G proteins) act as switches that regulate information processing circuits connecting cell surface receptors to a variety of effectors. The G proteins are present in all eukaryotic cells, and they control metabolic, humoral, neural, and developmental functions. More than a hundred different kinds of receptors and many different effectors have been described. The G proteins that coordinate receptor-effector activity are derived from a large gene family. At present, the family is known to contain at least sixteen different genes that encode the alpha subunit of the heterotrimer, four that encode beta subunits, and multiple genes encoding gamma subunits. Specific transient interactions between these components generate the pathways that modulate cellular responses to complex chemical signals.

The TPR snap helix: a novel protein repeat motif from mitosis to transcription

The recently discovered TPR gene family encodes a diverse group of proteins that function in mitosis, transcription, splicing, protein import and neurogenesis. These multi-domain proteins all contain tandemly arranged repeats of a 34-amino acid motif that are presumed to form helix-turn structures, each with a 'knob' and 'hole', acting as helix-associating domains.

Genetic studies of the PRP11 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

PRP11 is a gene that encodes an essential function for pre-messenger RNA (mRNA) processing in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We have carried out a mutational study to locate essential and non-essential regions of the PRP11 protein. The existing temperature-sensitive (ts) mutation (prp11-1) was isolated from the chromosome of the original mutant and its position in the gene was determined. When the prp11-1 gene was transcribed from the GAL1 promoter, the overproduced protein was able to reverse the ts prp11-1 phenotype; this is compatible with the possibility that the defect in the prp11-1 gene product affects its binding to the spliceosome. Thirteen linker-insertion mutations were constructed. Only five (prp11-4, 11-6, 11-10, -13 and -14) resulted in a null phenotype. One of these became temperature-sensitive when the insertion was reduced in size from four (prp11-10) to two (prp11-15) amino acids. A sequence of ten amino acids of which also occurs in the human U1 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particle (snRNP) A protein and the U2 snRNP B" protein, when deleted from PRP11, had no phenotype and thus appears to be nonessential for PRP11 function. However, a linker-insertion mutation (prp11-10) immediately adjacent to this region resulted in a null phenotype.

Yeast as a model system for understanding the control of DNA replication in Eukaryotes

In the yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the initiation of DNA replication is controlled at a point called START. At this point, the cellular environment is assessed; only if conditions are appropriate do cells traverse START, thus becoming committed to initiate DNA replication and complete the remainder of the cell cycle. The cdc2+/CDC28+ gene, encoding the protein kinase p34, is a key element in this complex control. The identification of structural and functional homologues of p34 suggests that it has a role in the control of DNA replication in all eukaryotes. The WHI1+, CLN1+ and CLN2+ gene products, identified in S. cerevisiae, are positive regulators that function at START and may interact with p34. Determining how passing the START control point leads to the initiation of DNA replication is a major outstanding challenge in cell cycle studies.

Domains of yeast U4 spliceosomal RNA required for PRP4 protein binding, snRNP-snRNP interactions, and pre-mRNA splicing in vivo

U4 small nuclear RNA (snRNA) contains two intramolecular stem-loop structures, located near each end of the molecule. The 5' stem-loop is highly conserved in structure and separates two regions of U4 snRNA that base-pair with U6 snRNA in the U4/U6 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particle (snRNP). The 3' stem-loop is highly divergent in structure among species and lies immediately upstream of the binding site for Sm proteins. To investigate the function of these two domains, mutants were constructed that delete the yeast U4 snRNA 5' stem-loop and that replace the yeast 3' stem-loop with that from trypanosome U4 snRNA. Both mutants fail to complement a null allele of the yeast U4 gene. The defects of the mutants have been examined in heterozygous strains by native gel electrophoresis, glycerol gradient centrifugation, and immunoprecipitation. The chimeric yeast-trypanosome RNA does not associate efficiently with U6 snRNA, suggesting that the 3' stem-loop of yeast U4 snRNA might be a binding site for a putative protein that facilitates assembly of the U4/U6 complex. In contrast, the 5' hairpin deletion mutant associates efficiently with U6 snRNA. However, it does not bind the U4/U6-specific protein PRP4 and does not assemble into a U4/U5/U6 snRNA. Thus, we propose that the role of the PRP4 protein is to promote interactions between the U4/U6 snRNP and the U5 snRNP.

A Chlamydomonas gene encodes a G protein beta subunit-like polypeptide

A Chlamydomonas gene encodes a protein that shows sequence similarity with the beta subunit of guanine nucleotide binding proteins from mammals, fruit fly and yeast. In addition to amino acid sequences similarity, each of these proteins contains a segmented repeat structure in which certain amino acids form a consensus sequence. Thus this gene product has been designated a Chlamydomonas beta subunit-like polypeptide (Cblp). The mRNA is constitutively expressed during the cell cycle and during flagellar regeneration.