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Molecular and Cellular Biology, October 1999, p. 6775-6787, Vol. 19, No. 10
Department of Biochemistry, University of
Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242
Received 15 June 1999/Accepted 8 July 1999
Plasma membrane localization of Ras requires posttranslational
addition of farnesyl and palmitoyl lipid moieties to a C-terminal CaaX motif (C is cysteine, a is any aliphatic
residue, X is the carboxy terminal residue). To better
understand the relationship between posttranslational processing and
the subcellular localization of Ras, a yeast genetic screen was
undertaken based on the loss of function of a palmitoylation-dependent
RAS2 allele. Mutations were identified in an
uncharacterized open reading frame (YLR246w) that we have
designated ERF2 and a previously described suppressor of
hyperactive Ras, SHR5. ERF2 encodes a 41-kDa
protein with four predicted transmembrane (TM) segments and a motif
consisting of the amino acids Asp-His-His-Cys (DHHC) within a
cysteine-rich domain (CRD), called DHHC-CRD. Mutations within the
DHHC-CRD abolish Erf2 function. Subcellular fractionation and
immunolocalization experiments reveal that Erf2 tagged with a triply
iterated hemagglutinin epitope is an integral membrane protein that
colocalizes with the yeast endoplasmic reticulum marker Kar2. Strains
lacking ERF2 are viable, but they have a synthetic growth
defect in the absence of RAS2 and partially suppress the
heat shock sensitivity resulting from expression of the hyperactive
RAS2(V19) allele. Ras2 proteins expressed in an
erf2
0270-7306/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Erf2, a Novel Gene Product That Affects the
Localization and Palmitoylation of Ras2 in Saccharomyces
cerevisiae
strain have a reduced level of palmitoylation and
are partially mislocalized to the vacuole. Based on these observations,
we propose that Erf2 is a component of a previously uncharacterized Ras
subcellular localization pathway. Putative members of an Erf2 family of
proteins have been uncovered in yeast, plant, worm, insect, and
mammalian genome databases, suggesting that Erf2 plays a role in Ras
localization in all eucaryotes.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Biochemistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242. Phone: (319)
335-7884. Fax: (319) 335-9570. E-mail:
robert-deschenes{at}uiowa.edu.
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