Genetic interactions in the control of mitosis in fission yeast

Regulation of Wee1 kinase in response to protein synthesis inhibition

To investigate the mechanism coupling growth (protein synthesis) with cell division, we examined the relationship between the tyrosine kinase Wee1 that inhibits Cdc2-Cdc13 mitosis-inducing kinase by phosphorylating it, and protein synthesis inhibition in fission yeast. The wee1-50 mutant showed supersensitivity to protein synthesis inhibitor, cycloheximide. Wee1 was essential for the G(2) delay upon a partial inhibition of protein synthesis. Indeed, the protein synthesis inhibition caused an increase in the Wee1 protein by the Sty1/Spc1 MAPK-dependent transcriptional and the Sty1/Spc1 MAPK-independent post-transcriptional regulations. Further, the results indicated that the post-transcriptional regulation is important for the G(2) delay.

A checkpoint that monitors cytokinesis in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

Cell division in Schizosaccharomyces pombe is achieved through the use of a medially positioned actomyosin ring. A division septum is formed centripetally, concomitant with actomyosin ring constriction. Genetic screens have identified mutations in a number of genes that affect actomyosin ring or septum assembly. These cytokinesis-defective mutants, however, undergo multiple S and M phases and die as elongated cells with multiple nuclei. Recently, we have shown that a mutant allele of the S. pombe drc1(+)/cps1(+) gene, which encodes a 1,3-(beta)-glucan synthase subunit, is defective in cytokinesis but displays a novel phenotype. drc1-191/cps1-191 cells are capable of assembling actomyosin rings and completing mitosis, but are incapable of assembling the division septum, causing them to arrest as binucleate cells with a stable actomyosin ring. Each nucleus in arrested cps1-191 cells is able to undergo S phase but these G(2) nuclei are significantly delayed for entry into the M phase. In this study we have investigated the mechanism that causes cps1-191 to block with two G(2) nuclei. We show that the inability of cps1-191 mutants to proceed through multiple mitotic cycles is not related to a defect in cell growth. Rather, the failure to complete some aspect of cytokinesis may prevent the G(2)/M transition of the two interphase-G(2) nuclei. The G(2)/M transition defect of cps1-191 mutants is suppressed by a mutation in the wee1 gene and also by the dominant cdc2 allele cdc2-1w, but not the cdc2-3w allele. Transient depolymerization of all F-actin structures also allowed a significant proportion of the cps1-191 cells to undergo a second round of mitosis. We conclude that an F-actin and Wee1p dependent checkpoint blocks G(2)/M transition until previous cytokinesis is completed.

Polarity, spatial organisation of cytoskeleton, and nuclear division in morphologically altered cells of Schizosaccharomyces pombe

To gain more information about the determination of cell polarity and its relationship to the organisation of cytoskeleton, we have examined the mycelial mutant sep1-1 and the multinucleate multipolar syncytia of the triple mutant sep1-1 spl1-1 cdc4-8 by indirect immunofluorescence techniques. We have found that polarity is predetermined by the shape of the cell. During transition from mitosis to interphase the microtubules of the arising cytoplasmic cytoskeleton gradually form a basket-like pattern that reflects the curvatures of the cell envelope. The presumable growing poles, where actin accumulates, usually correlates with sites where the cell tapers and the microtubules converge. However, no growth can be launched at these sites if the cell surface has not been properly processed. Mitosis and meiosis are not affected significantly by changes in cell morphology and polarity, but larger cells are less effective during sporulation. The azygotic asci produced by multinucleate syncytia frequently contain over 20 ascospores.

Five novel elements involved in the regulation of mitosis in fission yeast

Five new elements of the mitotic control in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe were isolated from gene libraries as multicopy suppressors of the conditional lethal phenotype of win1-1 wee1ts cdc25ts triple mutant strains. These genes were designated wis1(+)-wis5+ for win suppressing, and do not correspond to win1+ or any of the previously characterised mitotic control genes. None of the wis genes is capable of suppressing the cdc phenotype of cdc25ts strains, suggesting that their effect is not simply to reverse the effect of loss of cdc25 function. wis1+ has been previously reported to encode a putative serine/threonine protein kinase that acts as a dosage-dependent inducer of mitosis. wis4+ appears to be a specific suppressor of the win1-1 mutation. wis2+ and wis3+ are capable of suppressing a wide range of cdc phenotypes arising from the combination of various mutations with wee1ts and cdc25ts, suggesting that the wis2+ and wis3+ products may interact with elements central to the mitotic control.

Molecular cloning and sequence analysis of cdc27+ required for the G2-M transition in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe

The cell division cycle gene cdc27+ of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe is required for the transition from G2 into mitosis. Genetic and physiological experiments suggest a close relationship between cdc27+ and the cdc2+ gene, a key regulator of mitosis in yeast and also in higher eukaryotic cells. We isolated the cdc27+ gene by complementation of a temperature-sensitive cdc27 mutant. The DNA sequence of this gene predicts a 1116 nucleotide open reading frame split by five short introns, ranging in size from 49 to 74 nucleotides. Analysis of cDNA clones confirmed the structure of the gene. The deduced cdc27+ gene product consists of 372 amino acids with a predicted Mr of 43 kDa. No homology of the predicted protein with known proteins could be found, thus the cdc27+ gene encodes a novel function required for the G2-M transition. Northern analysis revealed two mRNAs of 1.4 and 2.2 kb transcribed from this gene, the smaller transcript being approximately tenfold more abundant than the larger. The level of cdc27+ mRNAs remained constant through the cell cycle indicating that the time of action of the cdc27+ gene, which is known to be regulated by elements of the mitotic control, is not determined by periodic accumulation of its transcripts.

Controlling cell cycle progress in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe

The suitability of fission yeast as a model for understanding the eukaryotic cell cycle has been validated in five years of exciting developments. We review recent advances in understanding the nature of the controls that regulate progression through the cell cycle and the coordination of DNA replication and mitosis.

Isolation, characterisation and molecular cloning of new mutant alleles of the fission yeast p34cdc2+ protein kinase gene: identification of temperature-sensitive G2-arresting alleles

The protein serine-threonine kinase p34cdc2+ plays a central role in the control of the mitotic cell cycle of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. p34cdc2+ function is required both for the initiation of DNA replication and for entry into mitosis, and is also required for the initiation of the second meiotic nuclear division. Recent extensive analysis of p34cdc2+ homologue proteins in higher eukaryotes has demonstrated that p34cdc2+ function is likely to be conserved in all eukaryotic cells. Here we report the isolation and characterisation of five new temperature-sensitive alleles of the cdc2+ gene. All five have been cloned and sequenced, together with the meiotically defective cdc2-N22 allele, bringing the total of p34cdc2+ mutants cloned in this and previous reports to seventeen. The five temperature-sensitive alleles define four separate mutations within the p34cdc2+ protein sequence, two of which give rise to cell cycle arrest in G2 only, when shifted to the restrictive temperature. The nature of the mutation in each protein is described and possible implications for the structure and function of p34cdc2+ discussed.

p34cdc2 acts as a lamin kinase in fission yeast

The nuclear lamina is an intermediate filament network that underlies the nuclear membrane in higher eukaryotic cells. During mitosis in higher eukaryotes, nuclear lamins are phosphorylated by a mitosis-specific kinase and this induces disassembly of the lamina structure. Recently, p34cdc2 protein kinase purified from starfish has been shown to induce phosphorylation of lamin proteins and disassembly of the nuclear lamina when incubated with isolated chick nuclei suggesting that p34cdc2 is likely to be the mitotic lamin kinase (Peter, M., J. Nakagawa, M. Dorée, J.C. Labbe, and E.A. Nigg. 1990b. Cell. 45:145-153). To confirm and extend these studies using genetic techniques, we have investigated the role of p34cdc2 in lamin phosphorylation in the fission yeast. As fission yeast lamins have not been identified, we have introduced a cDNA encoding the chicken lamin B2 protein into fission yeast. We report here that the chicken lamin B2 protein expressed in fission yeast is assembled into a structure that associates with the nucleus during interphase and becomes dispersed throughout the cytoplasm when cells enter mitosis. Mitotic reorganization correlates with phosphorylation of the chicken lamin B2 protein by a mitosis-specific yeast lamin kinase with similarities to the mitotic lamin kinase of higher eukaryotes. We show that a lamin kinase activity can be detected in cell-free yeast extracts and in p34cdc2 immunoprecipitates prepared from yeast cells arrested in mitosis. The fission yeast lamin kinase activity is temperature sensitive in extracts and immunoprecipitates prepared from strains bearing temperature-sensitive mutations in the cdc2 gene. These results in conjunction with the previously reported biochemical studies strongly suggest that disassembly of the nuclear lamina at mitosis in higher eukaryotic cells is a consequence of direct phosphorylation of nuclear lamins by p34cdc2.

RCS1, a gene involved in controlling cell size in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Cloning and sequencing of RCS1, Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene whose product seems to be involved in timing the budding event of the cell cycle, is described. A haploid strain in which the 3'-terminal region of the chromosomal copy of the gene has been disrupted produces cells that are, on average, twice the size of cells of the parental strain. The critical size for budding in the mutant is similarly increased, and the disruption mutation is dominant in a diploid heterozygous for the RCS1 gene. Spores from this diploid have a reduced ability to germinate, the effect being more pronounced in the spores carrying the disrupted copy of RCS1. However, disrupted cells recover from alpha-factor treatment equally as well as wild-type cells.

Dissociation of meiotic and mitotic roles of the fission yeast cdc2 gene

The fission yeast cdc2 gene is pleiotropic, functioning both in the cell division cycle and in meiosis. Here we show that cdc2 is allelic to tws1, a previously isolated meiotic gene. Dissociation of meiotic and mitotic roles of the gene is also demonstrated by finding mutant alleles specifically altered in only one of the two processes.

Cell division in higher plants: a cdc2 gene, its 34-kDa product, and histone H1 kinase activity in pea

The mitotic cell cycle of yeast and animal cells is regulated by the cdc2 gene and its product, the p34 protein kinase, and by other components of the MPF or histone H1 kinase complex. We present evidence that cdc2, p34, and a histone H1 kinase also exist in higher plants. Protein extracts from 10 plant species surveyed display a 34-kDa component recognized by a monoclonal antibody directed against an evolutionarily conserved epitope of fission yeast p34. Nondenatured protein extracts of mitotic Pisum sativum (garden pea) tissues were fractionated by gel filtration, electrophoretically separated under denaturing conditions, and immunoblotted. p34 crossreactive material was apparent in both low and high molecular mass fractions, indicating that pea p34 occurs as both a monomer and as part of a high molecular mass complex. Histone H1 kinase activity was found predominantly in the higher molecular mass fractions, those to which the least phosphorylated form of pea p34 was confined. We also report the cloning of the pea homologue of cdc2 by polymerase chain reaction. DNA sequence analysis reveals perfect conservation of the hallmark "PSTAIR" sequence motif found in all cdc2 gene products analyzed to date.

Universal control mechanism regulating onset of M-phase

The onset of M-phase is regulated by a mechanism common to all eukaryotic cells. Entry into M-phase is determined by activation of the p34cdc2 protein kinase which requires p34cdc2 dephosphorylation and association with cyclin.

Mutation of fission yeast cell cycle control genes abolishes dependence of mitosis on DNA replication

Entry into mitosis in fission yeast is controlled by the p34cdc2 protein kinase, which is activated by cdc25+ and inhibited by wee1+. In "wee" mutants one or the other of these controls is circumvented resulting in advancement of mitosis. We report that dependence of mitosis on DNA synthesis is lost in wee mutants in which cdc25+ control is circumvented either by mutations in cdc2+ or by overproduction of cdc25+. In contrast, dependence is maintained when the wee1+ control is bypassed. We propose that cdc25+ activity requires completion of earlier cell-cycle events such as DNA synthesis, and thus links p34cdc2 kinase activation to completion of these earlier events. Constitutive expression of cdc25+ homologs could explain why mitosis is not dependent on DNA replication in some early embryos.