[Interaction between checkpoint genes RAD9, RAD17, RAD24, and RAD53 involved in the determination of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae sensitivity to ionizing radiation].

Mechanisms for genetic control of cell division cycle (checkpoint control) have been studied in most detail in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. To clarify the role of checkpoint genes RAD9, RAD17, RAD24, and RAD53 in cell radioresistance, double mutants were analyzed for cell sensitivity to ionizing radiation. Double mutants carrying mutations in combination with mutation rad9Delta were shown to manifest the epistatic type of interaction. Our results suggest that checkpoint genes RAD9, RAD17, RAD24, and RAD53 belong to a single epistatic group designated RAD9 and govern the same pathway. Genes RAD9 and RAD53 have a positive effect on sensitivity to gamma-radiation, whereas RAD17 and RAD24 have a negative effect. Interactions between mutations may differ when considering their sensitivity to gamma-radiation and UV light; mutations rad9Delta and rad24Delta were shown to manifest the additive effect in the first case and epistatic effect in the second.

[Heterochromatic DNA repeats in Drosophila and unusual gene silencing in yeast cells].

The 1.25-kb heterochromatic Stellate repeats of Drosophila melanogaster are capable of stably persisting in transgenic constructs and silencing the white reporter gene (mosaic position effect variegation). This system reveals an unusual form of silencing, which is insensitive to known modifiers of position effect variegation. The unusual form of silencing was studied with yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a simple eukaryotic model. To be transferred into yeast cells, the D. melanogaster Stellate repeats were cloned in the pYAC4 centromeric vector (CEN4, URA3, TRP1, HIS3). The HIS3 and/or URA3 genes could be inactive in plasmids consisting of pYAC4 and the Stellate insert in yeast cells. Deletion of D. melanogaster DNA from the plasmid was found to activate the URA3 and HIS3 genes. It was assumed that the genes were repressed rather than damaged in the presence of the Stellate repeats and that a new form of gene silencing was revealed in S. cerevisiae.

[Interaction between checkpoint genes RAD9, RAD17, RAD24, and RAD53 involved in the determination of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae sensitivity to ionizing radiation].

Mechanisms for genetic control of cell division cycle (checkpoint control) have been studied in most detail in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. To clarify the role of checkpoint genes RAD9, RAD17, RAD24, and RAD53 in cell radioresistance, double mutants were analyzed for cell sensitivity to ionizing radiation. Double mutants carrying mutations in combination with mutation rad9delta were shown to manifest the epistatic type of interaction. Our results suggest that checkpoint genes RAD9, RAD17, RAD24, and RAD53 belong to a single epistatic group designated RAD9 and govern the same pathway. Genes RAD9 and RAD53 have a positive effect on sensitivity to gamma-radiation, whereas RAD17 and RAD24 have a negative effect. Interactions between mutations may differ when considering their sensitivity to gamma-radiation and UV light; mutations rad9delta and rad24delta were shown to manifest the additive effect in the first case and epistatic effect in the second.

NET1 and HFI1 genes of yeast mediate both chromosome maintenance and mitochondrial rho(-) mutagenesis.

An increase in the mitochondrial rho(-) mutagenesis is a well-known response of yeast cells to mutations in numerous nuclear genes as well as to various kinds of stress. Despite extensive studies for several decades, the biological significance of this response is still not fully understood. The genetic approach to solving this enigma includes a study of genes that are required for the high incidence of spontaneous rho(-) mutants. We have obtained mutations of a few nuclear genes of that sort and found that mutations in certain genes, including CDC28, the central cell-cycle regulation gene, result in a decrease in spontaneous rho(-) mutability and simultaneously affect the maintenance of the yeast chromosomes and plasmids. Two more genes resembling CDC28 in this respect are identified in the present work as a result of the characterization of four new mutants. These two genes are NET1 and HFI1 which mediate important regulatory protein-protein interactions in the yeast cell. The effects of four mutations, including net1-srm and hfi1-srm, on the maintenance of the yeast mitochondrial genome, chromosomes and plasmids, as well as on the cell's sensitivity to ionizing radiation, are also described. The data presented suggest that the pleiotropic srm mutations determining coordinate changes in the fidelity of mitotic transmission of chromosomes, plasmids and mtDNA molecules identify genes that most probably operate high up in the hierarchy of the general genetic regulation of yeast.

[The SRM12/ADA1 gene acts as a cis-active factor when inserted into recombinant plasmids and makes them more stable in Saccharomyces]. / Gen SRM12/ADA1 kak tsis-aktivnyi faktor podderzhaniia rekombinantnykh plazmid v kletkakh drozhzhei sakharomitsetov.

A DNA fragment containing the SRM12/ADA1 gene sequence inserted into a recombinant circular plasmid improves its maintenance in budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) cells. Plasmid stabilization caused by the integrated SRM12 sequence does not require the SRM12 function complementing the srm12 mutation and depends on the orientation of the inserted fragment in the vector. This stabilization is mainly due to a decrease in spontaneous plasmid underreplication/copy loss rather than an increase in the fidelity of mitotic plasmid segregation.

[New mutation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae SRM genes and some features of their phenotypic effects]. / Novye mutatsii genov SRM Saccharomyces cerevisiae i nekotorye osobennosti ikh fenotipicheskogo proiavleniia.

The effects of the previously identified mutations in nuclear genes SRM8, SRM12, SRM15, and SRM17 on the maintenance of chromosomes and recombinant plasmids in Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells and on cell sensitivity to ionizing radiation were studied. The srm8 mutation caused instability of chromosome maintenance in diploid cells. In yeast cells with the intact mitochondrial genome, all examined srm mutations decreased the mitotic stability of a centromeric recombinant plasmid with the chromosomal ARS element. Mutations srm12, srm15, and srm17 also decreased the mitotic stability of a centromereless plasmid containing the same ARS element, whereas the srm8 mutation did not markedly affect the maintenance of this plasmid. Mutations srm8, srm12, and srm17 were shown to increase cell sensitivity to gamma-ray irradiation. The SRM8 gene was mapped, cloned, and found to correspond to the open reading frame YJLO76w in chromosome X.

[Radiosensitivity of Saccharomyces yeasts and srm genes: effects of srm1 and srm5 mutations]. / Radiochuvstvitel'nost' drozhzhei sakharomitsetov i geny srm: éffekty mutatsii srm1 i srm5.

The presence in the cell genotype of srm1 and srm5 (cdc28-srm) mutations decreasing the spontaneous rho- mutability was shown to have no effect on the rates of spontaneous nuclear gene mutations and gamma-ray-induced mitotic recombination. Mutation cdc28-srm exerts a marked effect on cell sensitivity to the lethal action of ionizing radiation and on the appearance of homoplasmic segregants generated from heteroplasmic diploids. Additive interactions between mutations cdc28-srm and each of the rad6 and rad52 mutations were revealed by an analysis of double mutants with respect to their sensitivity to radiation. Mutation rad9 was epistatic with mutation cdc28-srm. These data agree with the idea that the p34CDC28 gene product is a target for the RAD9-dependent feedback control operating at the cell cycle checkpoints (checkpoint control) and ensuring an additional amount of time for premitotic repair of chromosomal DNA damage.

Mutations of the CDC28 gene and the radiation sensitivity of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

cdc28-srm, a non-temperature-sensitive (ts) mutation in the CDC28 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae that affects fidelity of mitotic transmission of both mitochondrial and nuclear genetic structures (Devin et al., 1990), also affected cell growth and sensitivity to lethal effects of ionizing radiation. At 30 degrees C cdc28-13, a ts mutation, was without appreciable effects on spontaneous mitochondrial rho(-)-mutagenesis, cell growth and radiation sensitivity, whereas all three cell characteristics mentioned were affected (although to a lesser degree than by cdc28-srm) by cdc28-1, another ts mutation. cdc28-srm was without any significant effect on the rates of spontaneous nuclear gene mutations and gamma-ray-induced mitotic recombination. An analysis of double mutants as regards their radiation sensitivity has revealed additive or even synergistic interactions between the cdc28-srm mutation and every one of the rad6-1 and rad52-1 mutations. The rad9 delta allele was found to be epistatic to cdc28-srm. These data suggest that the p34CDC28 protein is involved in the RAD9-dependent feedback control of DNA integrity operating at the cell cycle checkpoints.

[Analysis of maintenance of redundant genetic structures in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae: effect of mutations cdc28-srm and srm1]. / Analiz podderzhaniia izbytochnykh geneticheskikh struktur u drozhzhei Saccharomyces cerevisiae: éffekty mutatsii cdc28-srm i srm1.

The effects of nuclear gene mutations cdc28-srm and srm1 on the maintenance of various recombinant facultative genetic structures (FGSs) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae were studied. These structures are ARS1 TRP1 mini-coils, noncentromeric circular plasmids containing various ARS elements, and extended linear yeast artificial chromosomes (YAC). These mutations led to an increase in the mitotic stability of some of the FGS tested and the disturbed maintenance of the others. Mutation srm1 imposed a stabilizing effect on the maintenance of various recombinant FGSs with ARS chromosomal elements. Mutation cdc28-srm destabilized the maintenance of only those recombinant FGS that shared full or detectable homology with sequences of the nuclear genome of the yeast cell.

[Analysis of maintenance of redundant genetic structures in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae: disomy and spontaneous mitochondrial rho(-)-mutability]. / Analiz podderzhaniia izbytochnykh geneticheskikh struktur u drozhzhei Saccharomyces cerevisiae: disomiia i spontannaia mitokhondrial'naia rho(-)-mutabil'nost'.

With the postmeiotic progeny of triploids used as initial material, n + 1 disomics at chromosomes II, III, VII, VIII, and X were isolated. Disomy at the chromosomes listed (as well as for chromosomes IV and XIV, as demonstrated previously) is associated with decreased spontaneous rho- mitochondrial mutability. This suggests that a disturbance of the chromosome balance itself as such can lead to considerable changes in the spontaneous variability of the mitochondrial genome. From crosses between n + 1 disomics at chromosome IV and for each of the remaining above-mentioned six chromosomes, double n + 2 disomics were isolated, carrying nonchromologous pairs of extra chromosomes. Analysis of mitotic stability of the chromosome IV and spontaneous rho- mutability in double disomics shows that the effect of disomy on spontaneous rho- mutability most probably cannot be explained by direct competition between different genetic structures maintained in Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells. Disturbance of the chromosome balance in disomy is accompanied by essential qualitative changes in processes mediating the maintenance of genetic structures in yeast cells.

[Isolation and characterization of new nuclear srm gene mutation causing coordinated changes in the maintenance of nuclear and mitochondrial genetic structures in the yeast Saccharomyces]. / Poluchenie i kharakteristiki novykh iadernykh gennykh mutatsii srm, vyzyvaiushchikh koordinirovannye izmeneniia podderzhaniia iadernykh i mitokhondrial'nykh geneticheskikh struktur u drozhzhei sakharomitsetov.

From grown cultures of UV-irradiated Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells with disomy at chromosome IV, clones with nuclear gene mutations were isolated, each of which was suggested to change both mitochondrial spontaneous rho- mutability and the mitotic stability of extra natural chromosomes. Four such nonallelic mutations (srm8, srm12, srm15, and srm17) were isolated, and their phenotypic expression characterized. All four mutations are associated with decreased spontaneous rho- mutability and virtually block sporulation in homozygous mutant diploids. Mutation srm8 is temperature-sensitive and, most probably, involves an essential gene. Double mutants of genotypes srm8 cdc28-srm and srm8 srm12 are nonviable. Mutation srm12 increases the rate of spontaneous loss of extra chromosome XIV by disomics by a factor of about 30. Mutation srm15 induces a small (about twofold) but statistically significant decrease of this rate. Mutations srm8 and srm17 drastically decelerate reproduction of cells with disomy, which prevents quantitative estimations of rates of loss of extra chromosomes.

The start gene CDC28 and the genetic stability of yeast.

The cdc28-srm mutation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae decreases spontaneous and induced mitochondrial rho- mutability and the mitotic stability of native chromosomes and recombinant circular minichromosomes. The effects of cdc28-srm on the genetic stability of cells support the hypothesis that links cell cycle regulation in yeast to changes in chromatin organization dependent on the start gene CDC28 (Hayles and Nurse, 1986).

[Genetic analysis of mitochondrial rho-mutability in Saccharomyces yeasts. V. Isolation and mapping of nuclear mutation srm5, which simultaneously reduces the rho-mutability and mitotic stability of chromosomes]. / Geneticheskii analiz mitokhondrial'noi rho-mutabil'nosti u drozhzhei sakharomitsetov. Soobshchenie V. Vydelenie i kartirovanie iadernoi mutatsii srm5, snizhaiushchei odnovremenno rho-mutabil'nost' i mitoticheskuiu stabil'nost' khromosom.

A nuclear UV-induced srm5 mutation has been isolated which leads to pronounced decrease in spontaneous rho- mutability. Also, this mutation renders yeast n+1 disomes significantly less stable and changes the cell shape. The srm5 mutation has been mapped in the right arm of chromosome II at 10.3 cM from the tyr1 towards the centromere.