Cloning and integrative deletion of the RAD6 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

RAD6B overexpression confers chemoresistance: RAD6 expression during cell cycle and its redistribution to chromatin during DNA damage-induced response

The HR6A and HR6B genes, homologs of the yeast RAD6 gene, encode ubiquitin conjugating enzymes that are required for postreplication repair (PRR) of DNA and damage-induced mutagenesis. We show here that consistent with its role as a PRR protein, HR6 protein (referred as RAD6) expression is cell cycle regulated, with maximal levels expressed in late S/G2 phases of the cell cycle. Exposure of MCF10A cells to adriamycin (ADR) causes enhancement in the levels of RAD6B mRNA and protein. Inclusion of actinomycin D abolishes both basal and ADR-induced RAD6B transcription indicating that ADR-induced effects on RAD6B transcription result from an increase in transcriptional activity rather than from regulation of RAD6B mRNA stability. The increase in RAD6 protein expression observed in ADR-treated cells is dependent upon transcription and de novo protein synthesis, as addition of actinomycin D and cycloheximide eliminated the induction effects. Using in vivo crosslinking experiments, we demonstrate that only a small proportion of RAD6 is associated with chromatin in untreated MCF10A cells. However, treatment with ADR or cisplatin is accompanied by a significant increase and redistribution of RAD6 to DNA, and RAD6, RAD18, PCNA, phosphohistone H3, as well as p53 proteins are all found in the DNA fractions. These findings suggest that although RAD6 protein is present in the nucleus, its recruitment to the chromatin appears to be modulated by DNA damage. Whereas MCF10A cells engineered to overexpress ectopic RAD6B are significantly more resistant to ADR and cisplatin as compared to empty vector-transfected cells, MCF10A cells stably transfected with antisense RAD6B display hypersensitivity to these damage-inducing drugs. Analysis of PRR capacities in cisplatin-treated MCF10A cells stably transfected with empty vector, RAD6B or antisense RAD6B showed that whereas RAD6B-overexpressing and vector control MCF10A cells possessed the ability to convert newly synthesized DNA to higher molecular weight species, MCF10A cells depleted of RAD6B are PRR-compromised. Although no human diseases have been linked to mutations in the PRR pathway genes, these data suggest that RAD6 may play an essential role in DNA damage tolerance and recovery via modulation of PRR, and that imbalances in the levels of RAD6 could lead to changes in drug sensitivity and damage-induced mutagenesis.

Rad6p represses yeast-hypha morphogenesis in the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans

Rad6p plays important roles in post-replication DNA repair, chromatin organization, gene silencing and meiosis. In this study, we show that Rad6p also regulates yeast-hypha morphogenesis in the human pathogen Candida albicans. CaRAD6 gene and cDNAs were isolated and characterized revealing that the gene carries two 5'-proximal introns. CaRad6p shows a high degree of sequence similarity to Rad6 proteins from fungi to man (60-83% identity), and it suppresses the UV sensitivity and lack of induced mutagenesis displayed by a Saccharomyces cerevisiae rad6 mutant. In C. albicans, CaRAD6 expression is induced in response to UV, and CaRad6p depletion confers UV sensitivity, confirming that Rad6p serves a role in protecting this fungus against UV damage. CaRAD6 overexpression inhibits hyphal development, whereas CaRad6p depletion enhances hyphal growth. Also, CaRAD6 mRNA levels decrease during the yeast-hypha transition. These effects are dependent on Efg1p, but not Cph1p, indicating that CaRad6p acts specifically through the Efg1p morphogenetic signalling pathway to repress yeast-hypha morphogenesis.

Uracilless death and papillae formation in rad6-1 polyauxotrophic strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Both uracilless death and papillae formation during uracil starvation are markedly more extensive in rad6-1 than in RAD6 strains. Osmotic stabilization with 1 mol/L glucitol improves the growth of rad6-1 polyauxotrophic strains in supplemented minimal medium and partially suppresses both the uracilless death and cannibalistic growth of papillae on colonies.

The yeast Rad6 protein: a mediator of homologous recombination across the scaffold attached region at the replication origin ARS1

Here we show that the ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme Rad6p plays a crucial role in locus-specific replacement recombination in the TRP1-ARS1 region. In rad6-1 strains, where this ubiquitination activity is modified, homologous recombination across a 150 bp continuous region is completely abolished. Our results unambiguously identified the ARS1 scaffold attached region (SAR) as being the region where this impediment for replacement recombination is located, since a merging of the location of the recombination impediment and binding properties in a scaffold exchange assay with deletion mutations was observed. Our observations strongly support the notion of torsionally separated chromosomal domains being organized by SARs and scaffold proteins, and being dynamically realigned as a consequence of ubiquitination and proteolysis.

Base analog 6-N-hydroxylaminopurine mutagenesis in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is controlled by replicative DNA polymerases

Genetic control of mutagenesis by the base analog 6-N-hydroxylaminopurine (HAP) was studied in a set of isogenic yeast strains carrying null or point mutations in DNA repair and replication genes. Null alleles of the PMS1, RAD6, REV3 and RAD52 genes did not affect HAP mutagenesis. Defects in 3'- > 5' exonucleases associated with DNA polymerases epsilon and delta led to 2- to 3-fold increases in HAP-induced forward Can(r) mutant frequency. A similar increase was observed for FOAr mutants but only in the strain with a defective exonuclease of the polymerase epsilon (mutation pol2-4). The polymerase epsilon mutations, pol2-9 and pol2-18, which lead to temperature-sensitivity, and pol2-1 (insertion of URA3 at the position coding for amino acid 1134 in the POL2 gene) substantially reduced HAP mutagenesis. The polymerase delta mutation, cdc2-2, slightly reduced HAP mutagenesis. Enhanced proofreading was not the cause of the antimutator effect in the pol2-18 bearing strain, inasmuch as antimutator effect was observed in the pol2-4,18 mutant strain lacking proofreading. From the data obtained, we conclude that both DNA polymerase epsilon and delta participate in mutation generation by HAP.

UV-induced mutability in repair-deficient rad6-1 strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is caused by a suppressor gene

The RAD6 gene is a multifunctional gene required for DNA repair, induced mutagenesis and sporulation. The survival and revertibility of two loci in four rad6-1 mutant strains of different origin after UV irradiation were followed. As expected, all the rad6-1 strains tested were more sensitive to UV radiation in comparison with RAD6 strains. The reversion frequency per survivor in trp1-289 and arg4-17 alleles was significantly higher in all four rad6-1 mutant strains than in wild-type strains after equal doses of UV radiation. On the basis of genetic analysis we suggest that the phenomenon of increased frequency of induced mutagenesis is caused by a suppressor gene.

A similar defect in UV-induced mutagenesis conferred by the rad6 and rad18 mutations of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The single rad6 and rad18 yeast mutants share a number of physiological and biochemical properties related to DNA repair, suggesting that they affect closely related steps. However, it has been reported that UV-induced mutagenesis is considerably more depressed in rad6 than it is in rad18 cells. In an attempt to better understand the role of these genes, a genetic system believed to differentiate between targeted and untargeted events was used. The data are interpreted to mean that both mutations prevent the occurrence of targeted events, as if they prevent error-prone replication in front of pyrimidine dimers. The number of non-targeted mutants per survivor in each mutant was increased by UV irradiation. This may correspond to a stimulation of the error-prone replication.

Influence of DNA repair deficiencies on the UV sensitivity of yeast cells in different cell cycle stages

Synchronously dividing haploid yeast cells were UV-irradiated in various stages of the cell cycle after release from alpha-factor arrest. In confirmation of earlier results (Chanet et al., 1973), in wild-type strains G1/S phase cells were found to be the most sensitive and late S/G2 cells the most resistant. Stationary-phase (G0) cells were significantly more UV resistant than G1 cells. Strains defective in nucleotide excision repair lost enhanced resistance in the G2 phase and were most UV-sensitive in the G0 state. Reduced G2 resistance was also observed in rad6 mutants but not in rad9 mutants. After UV-irradiation in G1 phase rad9 mutant cells showed a reduced G1/S phase arrest.

The RAD3 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae: isolation and characterization of a temperature-sensitive mutant in the essential function and of extragenic suppressors of this mutant

Mutations in the RAD3 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae were generated by integration of a mutagenized incomplete copy of the cloned gene into wild-type cells. Integrants were mass screened for colonies with abnormal growth characteristics at 37 degrees C. A single temperature-sensitive mutant (rad3ts-1) was isolated and was shown to result from a missense mutation at codon 73 of the RAD3 gene. When shifted from 30 degrees C to 37 degrees C the strain undergoes only 2-4 cell doublings. This phenotype can be rescued by plasmids in which the essential function of the cloned RAD3 gene is intact, but not plasmids in which this function is inactivated. The mutant strain is weakly sensitive to ultraviolet (UV) radiation at restrictive temperatures. Measurement of RNA, DNA and protein synthesis at various times after shifting to restrictive temperatures does not show preferential inactivation of any one of these parameters and the temperature-sensitive mutation does not cause arrest at any specific phase of the cell cycle. The rad3ts-1 strain was transformed with multicopy plasmids from a normal yeast genomic library and two plasmids that partially suppress the temperature-sensitive phenotype were isolated. These suppressor genes (designated SRE1 and SRE2) are distinct from RAD3 and do not suppress the phenotype of several other temperature-sensitive mutants tested. Mutant strains carrying disruptions of the SRE1 gene are viable and are not sensitive to UV or gamma radiation.

DNA repair genes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae: complementing rad4 and rev2 mutations by plasmids which cannot be propagated in Escherichia coli

The RAD4 gene of yeast required for the incision step of DNA excision repair and the REV2 (= RAD5) gene involved in mutagenic DNA repair could not be isolated from genomic libraries propagated in E. coli regardless of copy number of the shuttle vector in yeast. Transformants with plasmids conferring UV resistance to a rad4-4 or a rev2-1 mutant were only recovered if yeast was transformed directly without previous amplification of the gene bank in E. coli. DNA preparations from these yeast clones yielded no transformants in E. coli but retransformation of yeast was possible. This lead to the isolation of a defective derivative of the rad4 complementing plasmid. The modified plasmid was now capable of transforming E. coli but still interfered significantly with its growth.

DNA-repair characterization of cdc40-1, a cell-cycle mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The cell-cycle specific mutation cdc40-1, which has been previously shown to be sensitive to MMS at the restrictive temperature, was further characterized as a DNA-repair-deficient mutation. cdc40-1 mutants shown only slight sensitivity to UV irradiation. Double mutant studies shown that rad6-l is epistatic to cdc40-1 with respect to sensitivity to UV irradiation and MMS. rad50-1 is epistatic to cdc40-1 with respect to MMS sensitivity in G1 stationary cells, but not in logarithmic cultures. An additive effect is seen between cdc40-1 and rad50-1 with respect to UV irradiation. cdc40-1 mutants are defective in UV-induced mutagenesis at the restrictive temperature. UV-induced levels of recombination are normal at both temperatures, while MMS-induced recombination is enhanced at the restrictive temperature.

Regulation of the RAD6 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in the mitotic cell cycle and in meiosis

The regulation of the RAD6 gene at the mRNA level was investigated. The level of steady state RAD6 mRNA increases once every cell cycle, at late S/early G2. This stage is the one at which rad6 mutants arrest, as do wild-type cells exposed to hydroxyurea (HU) or methyl methanesulfonate (MMS), or cdc40 cells exposed to the restrictive temperature. This appears to be a repair-specific stage in the cell cycle. RAD6 mRNA levels increase when cells are treated with MMS, but this increase seems to be due to the arrest of the cells by MMS at the repair-specific stage; cells arrested at the same stage by HU or by the cdc40 lesion also show high levels of RAD6 mRNA. A much smaller increase in the level of RAD6 transcripts is seen following UV irradiation. During meiosis, RAD6 mRNA is more abundant before commitment to recombination. The differential increase of RAD6 mRNA during the S/G2 repair-specific stage of the cell cycle relates the RAD6 function to the normally occurring radioresistance found at this stage.

The RAD50 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is not essential for vegetative growth

The gene RAD50 was located by the ability of subclones to restore the Rad+ phenotype following transformation of a rad50-1 mutant. Disruption of the gene was achieved by directed integration of a plasmid carrying a fragment internal to RAD50. Haploids with the disrupted gene are viable and do not differ in growth rate or plating efficiency from isogenic rad50-1 or Rad+ strains.

A yeast protein analogous to Escherichia coli RecA protein whose cellular level is enhanced after UV irradiation

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a protein was recognized by polyclonal antibodies raised against homogeneous Escherichia coli K 12 RecA protein. The cellular level of the yeast protein called RecAsc (molecular weight 44 kDa, pI 6.3), was transiently enhanced after UV irradiation. Protease inhibitors were required to minimize degradation of the RecAsc protein during cell lysis. The RecAsc protein exhibited similar basal levels and similar kinetics of increase after UV irradiation in DNA-repair proficient (RAD+) strains carrying mitochondrial DNA or not (rho0). This was also true for the following DNA-repair deficient (rad-) strains: rad2-6 rad6-1 rad52-1, a triple mutant blocked in three major repair pathways; rad6-delta, a mutant containing an integrative deletion in a gene playing a central role in mutagenesis; pso2-1, a mutant that exhibits a reduced rate of mutagenesis and recombination after exposure to DNA cross-linking agents.