SBF transcription factor complex positively regulates UV mutagenesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Lack of G1/S control destabilizes the yeast genome via replication stress-induced DSBs and illegitimate recombination

The protein Swi6 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a cofactor in two complexes that regulate the transcription of the genes controlling the G1/S transition. It also ensures proper oxidative and cell wall stress responses. Previously, we found that Swi6 was crucial for the survival of genotoxic stress. Here, we show that a lack of Swi6 causes replication stress leading to double-strand break (DSB) formation, inefficient DNA repair and DNA content alterations, resulting in high cell mortality. Comparative genome hybridization experiments revealed that there was a random genome rearrangement in swi6Δ cells, whereas in diploid swi6Δ/swi6Δ cells, chromosome V is duplicated. SWI4 and PAB1, which are located on chromosome V and are known multicopy suppressors of swi6Δ phenotypes, partially reverse swi6Δ genome instability when overexpressed. Another gene on chromosome V, RAD51, also supports swi6Δ survival, but at a high cost; Rad51-dependent illegitimate recombination in swi6Δ cells appears to connect DSBs, leading to genome rearrangement and preventing cell death.This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.

Eukaryotic Translesion DNA Synthesis on the Leading and Lagging Strands: Unique Detours around the Same Obstacle

During S-phase, minor DNA damage may be overcome by DNA damage tolerance (DDT) pathways that bypass such obstacles, postponing repair of the offending damage to complete the cell cycle and maintain cell survival. In translesion DNA synthesis (TLS), specialized DNA polymerases replicate the damaged DNA, allowing stringent DNA synthesis by a replicative polymerase to resume beyond the offending damage. Dysregulation of this DDT pathway in human cells leads to increased mutation rates that may contribute to the onset of cancer. Furthermore, TLS affords human cancer cells the ability to counteract chemotherapeutic agents that elicit cell death by damaging DNA in actively replicating cells. Currently, it is unclear how this critical pathway unfolds, in particular, where and when TLS occurs on each template strand. Given the semidiscontinuous nature of DNA replication, it is likely that TLS on the leading and lagging strand templates is unique for each strand. Since the discovery of DDT in the late 1960s, most studies on TLS in eukaryotes have focused on DNA lesions resulting from ultraviolet (UV) radiation exposure. In this review, we revisit these and other related studies to dissect the step-by-step intricacies of this complex process, provide our current understanding of TLS on leading and lagging strand templates, and propose testable hypotheses to gain further insights.

The available SRL3 deletion strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae contains a truncation of DNA damage tolerance protein Mms2: Implications for Srl3 and Mms2 functions

A screen of the commercially available collection of haploid deletion mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for spontaneous mutator mutants newly identified a deletion of SRL3. This gene had been previously isolated as a suppressor of lethality of checkpoint kinase deletions if overexpressed. We found DNA damage sensitivity and extended checkpoint arrests to be associated with this strain. However, when crossed to wild-type, a mutant gene conferring these phenotypes was found to segregate from the SRL3 deletion. The mutation was identified as a C-terminal truncation of Mms2, an E2 ubiquitin conjugating enzyme involved in error-free replicative bypass of lesions. This confirmed an earlier report that Mms2 may be required to restrain error-prone polymerase ζ activity and underscored that residues of the C-terminus are necessary for Mms2 function. Srl3, on the other hand, does not appear to influence DNA damage sensitivity or spontaneous mutability if deleted. However, the absence of these phenotypes does not contradict its likely role as a positive regulator of dNTP levels.