Sgt1p is a unique co-chaperone that acts as a client adaptor to link Hsp90 to Skp1p.

Sgt1p is a conserved, essential protein required for kinetochore assembly in both yeast and animal cells. Sgt1p has homology to both TPR and p23 domains, sequences often found in proteins that interact with and regulate the molecular chaperone, Hsp90. The presence of these domains and the recent findings that Sgt1p interacts with Hsp90 has led to the speculation that Sgt1p and Hsp90 form a co-chaperone complex. To test this possibility, we have used purified recombinant proteins to characterize the in vitro interactions between yeast Sgt1p and Hsp82p (an Hsp90 homologue in yeast). We show that Sgt1p interacts directly with Hsp82p via its p23 homology region in a nucleotide-dependent manner. However, Sgt1p binding does not alter the enzymatic activity of Hsp82p, suggesting that it is distinct from other co-chaperones. We find that Sgt1p can form a ternary chaperone complex with Hsp82p and Sti1p, a well characterized Hsp90 co-chaperone. Sgt1p interacts with its binding partner Skp1p through its TPR domains and links Skp1p to the core Hsp82p-Sti1p co-chaperone complex. The multidomain nature of Sgt1p and its ability to bridge the interaction between Skp1p and Hsp82p argue that Sgt1p acts as a "client adaptor" recruiting specific clients to Hsp82p co-chaperone complexes.

Schizosaccharomyces pombe Rdh54 (TID1) acts with Rhp54 (RAD54) to repair meiotic double-strand breaks.

We report the characterization of rdh54+, the second fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe Rad54 homolog. rdh54+ shares sequence and functional homology to budding yeast RDH54/TID1. Rdh54p is present during meiosis with appropriate timing for a meiotic recombination factor. It interacts with Rhp51 and the meiotic Rhp51 homolog Dmc1 in yeast two-hybrid assays. Deletion of rdh54+ has no effect on DNA damage repair during the haploid vegetative cell cycle. In meiosis, however, rdh54Delta shows decreased spore viability and homologous recombination with a concomitant increase in sister chromatid exchange. The rdh54Delta single mutant repairs meiotic breaks with similar timing to wild type, suggesting redundancy of meiotic recombination factors. Consistent with this, the rdh54Delta rhp54Delta double mutant fails to repair meiotic double strand breaks. Live cell analysis shows that rdh54Delta rhp54Delta asci do not arrest, but undergo both meiotic divisions with near normal timing, suggesting that failure to repair double strand breaks in S. pombe meiosis does not result in checkpoint arrest.

Different phenotypes in vivo are associated with ATPase motif mutations in Schizosaccharomyces pombe minichromosome maintenance proteins.

The six conserved MCM proteins are essential for normal DNA replication. They share a central core of homology that contains sequences related to DNA-dependent and AAA(+) ATPases. It has been suggested that the MCMs form a replicative helicase because a hexameric subcomplex formed by MCM4, -6, and -7 proteins has in vitro DNA helicase activity. To test whether ATPase and helicase activities are required for MCM protein function in vivo, we mutated conserved residues in the Walker A and Walker B motifs of MCM4, -6, and -7 and determined that equivalent mutations in these three proteins have different in vivo effects in fission yeast. Some mutations reported to abolish the in vitro helicase activity of the mouse MCM4/6/7 subcomplex do not affect the in vivo function of fission yeast MCM complex. Mutations of consensus CDK sites in Mcm4p and Mcm7p also have no phenotypic consequences. Co-immunoprecipitation analyses and in situ chromatin-binding experiments were used to study the ability of the mutant Mcm4ps to associate with the other MCMs, localize to the nucleus, and bind to chromatin. We conclude that the role of ATP binding and hydrolysis is different for different MCM subunits.