This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Blacketer, M J Articles by Myers, A M Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Blacketer, M J Articles by Myers, A M

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Mol Cell Biol. 1994 July; 14(7): 4671-4681

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutation elm4-1 facilitates pseudohyphal differentiation and interacts with a deficiency in phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthase activity to cause constitutive pseudohyphal growth.

Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Iowa State University, Ames 50011.

ABSTRACT

Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant E124 was selected in a visual screen based on elongated cell shape. Genetic analysis showed that E124 contains two separate mutations, pps1-1 and elm4-1, each causing a distinct phenotype inherited as a single-gene trait. In rich medium, pps1-1 by itself causes increased doubling time but does not affect cell shape, whereas elm4-1 results in a moderate cell elongation phenotype but does not affect growth rate. Reconstructed elm4-1 pps1-1 double mutants display a synthetic phenotype in rich medium including extreme cell elongation and delayed cell separation, both characteristics of pseudohyphal differentiation. The elm4-1 mutation was shown to act as a dominant factor that potentiates pseudohyphal differentiation in response to general nitrogen starvation in a genetic background in which pseudohyphal growth normally does not occur. Thus, elm4-1 allows recognition of, or response to, a pseudohyphal differentiation signal that results from nitrogen limitation. PPS1 was isolated and shown to be a previously undescribed gene coding for a protein similar in amino acid sequence to phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthase, a rate-limiting enzyme in the biosynthesis of nucleotides, histidine, and tryptophan. Thus, the pps1-1 mutation may generate a nitrogen limitation signal, which when coupled with elm4-1 results in pseudohyphal growth even in rich medium.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Loeb, J. D. J., Sepulveda-Becerra, M., Hazan, I., Liu, H. (1999). A G1 Cyclin Is Necessary for Maintenance of Filamentous Growth in Candida albicans. Mol. Cell. Biol. 19: 4019-4027 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Edgington, N. P., Blacketer, M. J., Bierwagen, T. A., Myers, A. M. (1999). Control of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Filamentous Growth by Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Cdc28. Mol. Cell. Biol. 19: 1369-1380 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Roemer, T, Vallier, L, Sheu, Y., Snyder, M (1998). The Spa2-related protein, Sph1p, is important for polarized growth in yeast. J. Cell Sci. 111: 479-494 [Abstract]  
• Lo, W.-S., Dranginis, A. M. (1998). The Cell Surface Flocculin Flo11 Is Required for Pseudohyphae Formation and Invasion by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol. Biol. Cell 9: 161-171 [Abstract] [Full Text]