GTP-cyclohydrolase I gene mutations in patients with autosomal dominant and recessive GTP-CH1 deficiency: identification and functional characterization of four novel mutations

GTP-cyclohydrolase I (GTP-CH1, EC 3.5.4.16) is encoded by the GCH1 gene. Mutations in the GCH1 gene cause both dopa-responsive dystonia (McKusick 128230) and recessive GTP-CH1 deficiency (McKusick 600225). The exact molecular mechanism resulting in decreased GTP-CH1 activity in the patients is still obscure. We report the clinical features and molecular and functional study of the GCH1 gene in eight Italian patients affected by dominant and recessive GTP-CH1 deficiency. All the studied patients had mutations in the GCH1 gene. Three missense mutations (V205G, K224R, P199A), a frameshift mutation (Delta G693), and a splice-site mutation (ivs5 + 1g > c) were found. Except for K224R these are all novel mutations. To analyse the defect caused by the novel mutations, an in vivo functional assay in a Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain lacking the endogenous gene encoding GTP-CH1 ( FOL2 ) was performed. Complementation analysis showed that the Delta G693 and V205G mutations abolish the enzymatic function, while the P199A mutation causes a conditional defect. In conclusion, the clinical phenotypes displayed by our patients confirm the wide clinical spectrum of the disease and further support the lack of correlation between a given mutation and a clinical phenotype. Complementation analysis in yeast is a useful tool for confirming the pathogenetic effect of GCH1 mutations.

A 9359 bp fragment from the right arm of Saccharomyces cerevisiae chromosome VII includes the FOL2 and YTA7 genes and three unknown open reading frames

In the framework of the EU programme for systematic sequencing of the Saccharomyces cervisiae genome we determined the sequence of a 9359 bp fragment of the right arm of chromosome VII. Five open reading frames (ORFs) of at least 300 nucleotides were found in this region. YGR267c encodes a protein with significant similarity to the enzyme GTP-cyclohydrolase I, that controls the first step in the biosynthetic pathway leading to various pterins and shows a high degree of sequence conservation from bacteria to mammals. We have recently demonstrated (Nardese et al., 1996) that YGR267c corresponds to the FOL2 gene, previously localized in the same chromosomal region by genetic mapping. The protein deduced from YGR270w belongs to the superfamily of putative ATPases associated with diverse cellular activities. It corresponds to the YTA7 gene, a member of a set of yeast genes coding for putative ATPases with high similarity to constituents of the 26S protease. The three ORFs YGR266w, YGR268c and YGR269w encode putative products of unknown function, with neither significant similarity to proteins in databases nor recognizable domains. YGR268c and YGR269w are partially overlapping ORFs: YGR268c seems to correspond to a real gene. whereas YGR269w is probably a fortuitous ORF.

The nucleotide sequence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae chromosome VII

The complete nucleotide sequence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae chromosome VII has 572 predicted open reading frames (ORFs), of which 341 are new. No correlation was found between G+C content and gene density along the chromosome, and their variations are random. Of the ORFs, 17% show high similarity to human proteins. Almost half of the ORFs could be classified in functional categories, and there is a slight increase in the number of transcription (7.0%) and translation (5.2%) factors when compared with the complete S. cerevisiae genome. Accurate verification procedures demonstrate that there are less than two errors per 10,000 base pairs in the published sequence.

A simple signal element mediates transcription termination and mRNA 3' end formation in the DEG1 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

DEG1 is a weakly transcribed gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, closely associated with CEN6. We mapped its major poly(A) site only 24 nucleotides (nt) downstream of the stop codon, and only 26 nt upstream of the CDEI centromere element. The deletion of this 50 nt stretch completely abolishes formation of the mRNA 3' end. A shorter deletion of a 16 nt sequence in the 3'-untranslated region has the same effect on transcription termination and 3'-maturation function. A TATATA sequence within this 16 nt region is essential for both functions, while a TGTATA sequence has a weak compensating activity in 3' end maturation if the TATATA stretch is deleted. We assume that the 3' end formation signals of the DEG1 gene have this simple structure: a single essential element (TATATA, whether alone or with the few surrounding nucleotides), probably, but not necessarily, cooperating with the sequence at the poly(A) site. This simple structure differs from the emerging model for 3' end-processing signals in that (i) it is shorter: 24 nt long at the most, while the model suggests 39 nt; (ii) there is no element located downstream of the TATATA signal to position the poly(A) site; and (iii) unlike the other naturally occurring signals studied, no cooperation among multiple TATATA-like elements is observed. We found that the same TATATA sequence also directs transcription termination, irrespective of promoter strength, and presumably without the cooperation of a downstream polymerase II pausing site. Taken together, these findings support the hypothesis that the DEG1 3' end-forming signals are more condensed than in other yeast genes, probably because of their proximity to CEN6.

Analysis of a 17.9 kb region from Saccharomyces cerevisiae chromosome VII reveals the presence of eight open reading frames, including BRF1 (TFIIIB70) and GCN5 genes

We report the nucleotide sequence of a 17,893 bp DNA segment from the right arm of Saccharomyces cerevisiae chromosome VII. This fragment begins at 482 kb from the centromere. The sequence includes the BRF1 gene, encoding TFIIIB70, the 5' portion of the GCN5 gene, an open reading frame (ORF) previously identified as ORF MGA1, whose translation product shows similarity to heat-shock transcription factors and five new ORFs. Among these, YGR250 encodes a polypeptide that harbours a domain present in several polyA binding proteins. YGR245 is similar to a putative Schizosaccharomyces pombe gene, YGR248 shows significant similarity with three ORFs of S. cerevisiae situated on different chromosomes, while the remaining two ORFs, YGR247 and YGR251, do not show significant similarity to sequences present in databases.

Nucleotide sequence of 9.2 kb left of CRY1 on yeast chromosome III from strain AB972: evidence for a Ty insertion and functional analysis of open reading frame YCR28

We report the 9210 bp sequence from a segment of yeast chromosome III cloned from strain AB972 in lambda PM3270. Analysis of this sequence and its comparison with the one derived from the corresponding segment of strain XJ24-24A revealed that the AB972 region contains a duplication of about 2 kb and a Ty element, which are not found in XJ24-24A and cause a quite significant rearrangement of the whole region. We performed functional analysis of YCR28, the largest open reading frame we found in both AB972 and XJ24-24A. YCR28 encodes a putative protein of 512 amino acids with some similarities to yeast allontoate permease. Its disruption does not cause any detectable phenotype on rich medium or on allantoate medium, while we observed a strain-dependent effect on sensitivity to amino acid balance and to 3-aminotriazole, when cells were grown in synthetic medium.

Caffeine interactions with methyl methanesulphonate, hycanthone, benlate, and cadmium chloride in chromosomal meiotic segregation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Interactions of caffeine with chemicals known for their effects on chromosomal segregation during meiosis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae were studied. It appears that caffeine does interfere with the action of other compounds during the different phases of meiosis. Treatments with methyl methanesulphonate (MMS) and cadmium chloride (CdCl2) resulted in a synergistic effect consisting of an increase in the frequency of recombination. The greatest effects were found on the induction of diploid spores: MMS, hycanthone, and distamycin demonstrated strong, benlate little synergistic action. CdCl2 demonstrated antagonism to caffeine by counter-inhibiting its effect on the induction of diploids. Concerning disomic induction: caffeine reduced (or left unchanged) the effect on non-disjunction when MMS and hycanthone were used. Simple additive effects were caused in conjunction with distamycin, benlate, and (in small doses) CdCl2. 2 mg of caffeine/ml in treatments with CdCl2 resulted in a very high frequency of disomic clones.

Disomic and diploid meiotic products induced in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by the salts of 27 elements

The effects of salts of 27 elements on recombination and on the production of disomic and/or diploid spores during meiosis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been investigated. Be(NO3)2, MgSO4, FeSO4, CuSO4, AgNO3, Na2HAsO4 were inactive on the events studied during meiotic cell division. AuCl4, CdCl2, C4H6O4Pb, SnCl2, K2Cr2O7, RbCl induced both disomic and diploid spores. LiCl acted similarly and also affected recombination. Activity in the induction of disomic spores was shown by MnSO4, HgCl2 and SrCl2. CsCl, CaCl2, Na2MoO4, NiCl2, K2PtCl4 increased the frequency of diploid spores, while NaWO4, VOSO4, KCl, BaCl2 already increased recombination frequency. NaBiO3 showed an effect on meiotic recombination only. A decrease in the occurrence of both diploid and disomic spores was suggested by the data obtained with CoCl2.