The Saccharomyces cerevisiae DNA repair gene RAD2 is regulated in meiosis but not during the mitotic cell cycle

An Overview of the Function and Maintenance of Sexual Reproduction in Dikaryotic Fungi

Sexual reproduction likely evolved as protection from environmental stresses, specifically, to repair DNA damage, often via homologous recombination. In higher eukaryotes, meiosis and the production of gametes with allelic combinations different from parental type provides the side effect of increased genetic variation. In fungi it appears that while the maintenance of meiosis is paramount for success, outcrossing is not a driving force. In the subkingdom Dikarya, fungal members are characterized by existence of a dikaryon for extended stages within the life cycle. Such fungi possess functional or, in some cases, relictual, loci that govern sexual reproduction between members of their own species. All mating systems identified so far in the Dikarya employ a pheromone/receptor system for haploid organisms to recognize a compatible mating partner, although the paradigm in the Ascomycota, e.g., Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is that genes for the pheromone precursor and receptor are not found in the mating-type locus but rather are regulated by its products. Similarly, the mating systems in the Ascomycota are bipolar, with two non-allelic idiomorphs expressed in cells of opposite mating type. In contrast, for the Basidiomycota, both bipolar and tetrapolar mating systems have been well characterized; further, at least one locus directly encodes the pheromone precursor and the receptor for the pheromone of a different mating type, while a separate locus encodes proteins that may regulate the first locus and/or additional genes required for downstream events. Heterozygosity at both of two unlinked loci is required for cells to productively mate in tetrapolar systems, whereas in bipolar systems the two loci are tightly linked. Finally, a trade-off exists in wild fungal populations between sexual reproduction and the associated costs, with adverse conditions leading to mating. For fungal mammal pathogens, the products of sexual reproduction can be targets for the host immune system. The opposite appears true for phytopathogenic fungi, where mating and pathogenicity are inextricably linked. Here, we explore, compare, and contrast different strategies used among the Dikarya, both saprophytic and pathogenic fungi, and highlight differences between pathogens of mammals and pathogens of plants, providing context for selective pressures acting on this interesting group of fungi.

The 26S proteasome negatively regulates the level of overall genomic nucleotide excision repair

Regulation of protein expression can be achieved through destruction of proteins by the 26S: proteasome. Cellular processes that are regulated by proteolysis include cell cycle progression, stress responses and differentiation. Several nucleotide excision repair proteins in yeast and humans, such as Rad23, Rad4 and XPB, have been shown to co-purify with Cim3 and Cim5, AAA ATPases of the 19S: proteasome regulatory subunit. However, it has not been determined if nucleotide excision repair is regulated through protein destruction. We measured nucleotide excision repair in yeast mutants that are defective in proteasome function and found that the repair of the transcribed and non-transcribed strands of an RNA polymerase II-transcribed reporter gene was increased in the absence of proteasome function. Additionally, overexpression of the Rad4 repair protein, which is bound to the repair/proteolytic factor Rad23, conferred higher rates of nucleotide excision repair. Based on our data we suggest that a protein (or proteins) involved in nucleotide excision repair or in regulation of repair is degraded by the 26S proteasome. We propose that decreased proteasome function enables increased DNA repair, due to the transient accumulation of a specific repair factor, perhaps Rad4.

Rapid changes of nucleotide excision repair gene expression following UV-irradiation and cisplatin treatment of Dictyostelium discoideum

Organisms use different mechanisms to detect and repair different types of DNA damage, and different species vary in their sensitivity to DNA damaging agents. The cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum has long been recognized for its unusual resistance to UV and ionizing radiation. We have recently cloned three nucleotide excision repair (NER) genes from Dictyostelium , the rep B, D and E genes (the homologs of the human xeroderma pigmentosum group B, D and E genes, respectively). Each of these genes has a unique pattern of expression during the multicellular development of this organism. We have now examined the response of these genes to DNA damage. The rep B and D DNA helicase genes are rapidly and transiently induced in a dose dependent manner following exposure to both UV-light and the widely used chemotherapeutic agent cisplatin. Interestingly, the rep E mRNA level is repressed by UV but not by cisplatin, implying unique signal transduction pathways for recognizing and repairing different types of damage. Cells from all stages of growth and development display the same pattern of NER gene expression following exposure to UV-light. These results suggest that the response to UV is independent of DNA replication, and that all the factors necessary for rapid transcription of these NER genes are either stable throughout development, or are continuously synthesized. It is significant that the up-regulation of the rep B and D genes in response to UV and chemical damage has not been observed to occur in cells from other species. We suggest that this rapid expression of NER genes is at least in part responsible for the unusual resistance of Dictyostelium to DNA damage.

A DNA binding factor (UBF) interacts with a positive regulatory element in the promoters of genes expressed during meiosis and vegetative growth in yeast

We have studied the bipartite regulatory element UASH/URS1 in the promoter of HOP1, whose product is required for synapsis and correct pairing of homologous chromosomes during the first meiotic division. HOP1 is transcriptionally repressed by the URS1 motif during vegetative growth and induced during meiotic prophase by the UASH motif in cooperation with the bifunctional URS1 site, which is required for full induction of HOP1. While URS1 is bound in vitro by the Buf and Ume6 repressor proteins, we demonstrate for the first time by electrophoretic mobility shift assays and interference footprinting that the UASH site interacts in vitro with a novel factor called UBF (UASH binding factor) which is present in haploid and diploid cycling, as well as sporulating cells. Point mutations in the HOP1 UASH motif abolish UBF-dependent DNA binding activity in vitro and meiotic HOP1 gene expression in vivo. Furthermore, we show that UBF binds in vitro to UASH-like sequences in the promoter regions of several meiosis-specific and non-specific genes and propose that UBF mediates gene expression through its interaction with the UASH motif in both cycling and sporulating cells.

Regulation of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae DNA repair gene RAD16

The RAD16 gene product has been shown to be essential for the repair of the silenced mating type loci [Bang et al. (1992) Nucleic Acids Res. 20, 3925-3931]. More recently we demonstrated that the RAD16 and RAD7 proteins are also required for repair of non-transcribed strands of active genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae [Waters et al. (1993) Mol. Gen. Genet. 239, 28-32]. We have studied the regulation of the RAD16 gene and found that the RAD16 transcript levels increased up to 7-fold upon UV irradiation. Heat shock at 42 degrees C also results in elevated levels of RAD16 mRNA. In sporulating MAT alpha/MATa diploid cells RAD16 mRNA is also induced. The basal level of the RAD16 transcript is constant during the mitotic cell cycle. G1-arrested cells show normal induction of RAD16 mRNA upon UV irradiation demonstrating that the induction is not a secondary consequence of G2 cell cycle arrest following UV irradiation. However, in cells arrested in G1 the induction of RAD16 mRNA after UV irradiation is not followed by a rapid decline as occurs in normal growing cells suggesting that the down regulation of RAD16 transcription is dependent on progression into the cell cycle.

Control of meiotic gene expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Sporulation of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is restricted to one type of cell, the a/alpha cell, and is initiated after starvation for nitrogen in the absence of a fermentable carbon source. More than 25 characterized genes are expressed only during sporulation and are referred to as meiotic genes or sporulation-specific genes. These genes are in the early, middle, and late expression classes. Most early genes have a 5' regulatory site, URS1, and one of two additional sequences, UASH or a T4C site. URS1 is required both to repress meiotic genes during vegetative growth and to activate these genes during meiosis. UASH and the T4C site also contribute to meiotic expression. A different type of site, the NRE, is found in at least two late genes. The NRE behaves as a repression site in vegetative cells and is neutral in meiotic cells. Many regulatory genes that either repress or activate meiotic genes have been identified. One group of regulators affects the expression of IME1, which specifies a positive regulator of meiotic genes and is expressed at the highest levels in meiotic cells. A second group of regulators acts in parallel with or downstream of IME1 to influence meiotic gene expression. This group includes UME6, which is required both for repression through the URS1 site in vegetative cells and for IME1-dependent activation of an upstream region containing URS1 and T4C sites. IME1 may activate meiotic genes by modifying a UME6-dependent repression complex at a URS1 site. Several additional mechanisms restrict functional expression of some genes to meiotic cells. Translation of IME1 has been proposed to occur only in meiotic cells; several meiotic transcripts are more stable in acetate medium than in glucose medium; and splicing of MER2 RNA depends on a meiosis-specific gene, MER1.

The REV3 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is transcriptionally regulated more like a repair gene than one encoding a DNA polymerase

We measured the relative steady-state levels of the mRNA transcribed from the Saccharomyces cerevisiae REV3 gene in cells at different stages of the mitotic and meiotic cycles, and after UV irradiation. This gene is thought to encode a DNA polymerase concerned only with a specific recovery function, the replication on mutagen-damaged templates that produces damaged-induced mutations. In keeping with this proposed function, the REV3 gene showed no evidence of the periodic transcription at the G1/S boundary of the mitotic and meiotic cycle that occurs with genes encoding replication enzymes. However, levels of REV3 mRNA were much increased in late meiotic cells, like those of transcripts of some other DNA repair-related genes. Steady-state levels of REV3 transcript were increased only slightly in response to UV irradiation.

Transcript levels of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae DNA repair gene RAD18 increase in UV irradiated cells and during meiosis but not during the mitotic cell cycle

We have examined the transcript levels of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae DNA repair gene RAD18 in UV irradiated cells, in the mitotic cell cycle, and during meiosis. Levels of RAD18 mRNA increased upon UV irradiation, but remained constant during the mitotic cell cycle. During meiosis, RAD18 mRNA levels rose about 4 fold at a stage coincident with the period when high levels of genetic recombination occur. RAD18 resembles the other DNA repair genes, RAD2, RAD6, RAD7, RAD23, and RAD54, all of which also exhibit increased transcription in response to DNA damage and during meiosis. Comparisons of sequences in 5' flanking regions of RAD genes suggest that different upstream sequences are involved in regulating the expression of DNA repair genes belonging to different epistasis groups.

Transcript levels of the Saccharomyes cerevisiae DNA repair gene RAD23 increase in response to UV light and in meiosis but remain constant in the mitotic cell cycle

The RAD23 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is required for excision-repair of UV damaged DNA. In this paper, we determine the location of the RAD23 gene in a cloned DNA fragment, identify the 1.6 kb RAD23 transcript, and examine RAD23 transcript levels in UV damaged cells, during the mitotic cell cycle, and in meiosis. The RAD23 mRNA levels are elevated 5-fold between 30 to 60 min after 37 J/m2 of UV light. RAD23 mRNA levels rise over 6-fold during meiosis at a stage coincident with high levels of genetic recombination. This response is specific to sporulation competent MATa/MAT alpha diploid cells, and is not observed in asporogenous MATa/MATa diploids. RAD23 mRNA levels, however, remain constant during the mitotic cell cycle.