Propranolol, atenolol, and trifluoperazine reduce the spontaneous occurrence of meiotic diploid products in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Fluphenazine-resistant Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutants defective in the cell division cycle

An fls1 mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which did not grow in the presence of 30 micrograms of fluphenazine per ml, was isolated. Mutants that were resistant to 90 micrograms of fluphenazine per ml and temperature sensitive for growth were obtained from the fls1 mutant. One fluphenazine-resistance mutation, fsr1, was located near the his7 locus on chromosome II. Growth of the fsr1 mutants at 35 degrees C was arrested after nuclear division. The other group of fluphenazine-resistant mutants, carrying fsr2 mutations, showed Ca2+-dependent growth at 35 degrees C. Growth of the fsr2 mutants at 35 degrees C was arrested at the G2 stage of the cell cycle in Ca2+-poor medium.

Yeast gene required for spindle pole body duplication: homology of its product with Ca2+-binding proteins

Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains bearing temperature-sensitive alleles of the cell division cycle gene CDC31 are specifically defective in duplication of the spindle pole body, the microtubule-organizing center of yeast. To define the function encoded by CDC31 more fully, we have isolated genomic clones of the gene by selection for complementation of a temperature-sensitive allele. The locus from which the clone was derived was marked by integration of a nutritional marker and found by meiotic mapping to cosegregate with CDC31. The polypeptide sequence of the open reading frame in the CDC31 gene was determined and compared with the sequences of other known proteins. This revealed significant homology with the calmodulins and other members of the Ca2+-binding protein family. On the basis of comparison with these related proteins, it is evident that the CDC31 gene product has at least two binding sites for Ca2+ and is also homologous with other regions of the calmodulin sequence. We propose that Ca2+ fluxes within the yeast cell play a key role in spindle pole body duplication and consequently in the organization of the microtubule arrays.

Genetic study of the role of calcium ions in the cell division cycle of Saccharomyces cerevisiae: a calcium-dependent mutant and its trifluoperazine-dependent pseudorevertants

A cal1-1 mutant of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae showing Ca2+-dependent growth was isolated. Its growth continued exponentially in Ca2+-rich medium, but stopped in Ca2+-poor medium at 37 degrees C. Mg2+ ions could not replace Ca2+ ions. In Ca2+-poor medium, the mutant cells stopped growing homogeneously at the stage of cell division cycle with a tiny bud. The nucleus in these arrested cells was in the G2 stage, judging from observation after nuclear staining and determination of the DNA content. Trifluoperazine-dependent pseudorevertants, which could grow in the presence of 20 microM to 80 microM trifluoperazine in Ca2+-poor medium at 37 degrees C, were obtained from this cal1-1 mutant. The suppressor mutation, tfr1, itself conferred trifluoperazine resistance. Other calmodulin inhibitors structurally unrelated to trifluoperazine had similar effects to trifluoperazine on these pseudorevertants. These results suggest that Ca2+ ions and a calmodulin play important roles in the yeast cell division cycle at the stage of bud growth and nuclear division.