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Molecular and Cellular Biology, October 1999, p. 7228-7236, Vol. 19, No. 10
Department of Biology,
Received 20 May 1999/Returned for modification 18 June
1999/Accepted 9 July 1999
We have previously shown that replication of fission yeast
chromosomes is initiated in distinct regions. Analyses of autonomous replicating sequences have suggested that regions required for replication are very different from those in budding yeast. Here, we
present evidence that fission yeast replication origins are specifically associated with proteins that participate in initiation of
replication. Most Orp1p, a putative subunit of the fission yeast origin
recognition complex (ORC), was found to be associated with
chromatin-enriched insoluble components throughout the cell cycle. In
contrast, the minichromosome maintenance (Mcm) proteins, SpMcm2p and
SpMcm6p, encoded by the
nda1+/cdc19+ and
mis5+ genes, respectively, were associated with
chromatin DNA only during the G1 and S phases.
Immunostaining of spread nuclei showed SpMcm6p to be localized at
discrete foci on chromatin during the G1 and S phases. A
chromatin immunoprecipitation assay demonstrated that Orp1p was
preferentially localized at the ars2004 and
ars3002 origins of the chromosome throughout the cell
cycle, while SpMcm6p was associated with these origins only in the
G1 and S phases. Both Orp1p and SpMcm6p were associated
with a 1-kb region that contains elements required for autonomous
replication of ars2004. The results suggest that the
fission yeast ORC specifically interacts with chromosomal replication
origins and that Mcm proteins are loaded onto the origins to play a
role in initiation of replication.
Initiation of replication in
eukaryotic cells is tightly regulated during the cell cycle. The
regulation presumably involves interactions of specific proteins with
specific DNA sequences in replication origins.
Accumulating evidence suggests that the structures of replication
origins in eukaryotic species are very different from each other
(15, 23). In budding yeast, Saccharomyces
cerevisiae, certain chromosome fragments shorter than 200 bp have
been shown to replicate autonomously (autonomously replicating
sequences [ARSs]) (28, 56). All of the ARSs contain a
match to an 11-bp ARS consensus sequence that is essential for
replication (9, 41, 63). In contrast, replication origins in
other eukaryotes have larger and more complex structures than those in
budding yeast. In fission yeast, Shizosaccharomyces pombe,
replication of chromosomes is initiated in specific regions that can be
isolated as ARS fragments (10, 20, 50). Detailed analyses of
fission yeast ARSs have shown that regions required for replication are several times larger and no equivalent short essential sequence exists
(19, 42, 52). Instead, clustered adenine/thymine stretches
are required for ARS activity (13, 19, 32, 51). On the other
hand, for initiation of replication from a distinct site on mammalian
chromosomes, multiple regions at distant locations have been shown to
be required (2, 34). Thus, budding yeast replication origins
might have a rather exceptional structure compared with replication
origins in other eukaryotes.
An origin recognition complex (ORC) composed of six subunits has been
identified as a protein complex that binds to the budding yeast ARSs
(6). Analyses of temperature-sensitive orc2-1 and orc5-1 mutants have shown that the ORC has an essential role
in initiation of replication of the yeast genome (38).
Recently, homologues of ORC components have been identified in many
eukaryotes (11, 22, 24, 37, 45, 54). Depletion of XOrc1p or
XOrc2p from Xenopus egg extracts abolishes replication of
sperm chromatin (11, 54). Analysis of an orp1-4
mutant of fission yeast showed that orp1+, a
counterpart of ORC1, is required for cell cycle progression into the S phase (25). However, it was not elucidated
whether the ORC in most eukaryotic species except budding yeast
participates in chromosomal replication through its interaction with
replication origins or not.
It is proposed that prereplicative complexes (Pre-RCs) assembled at
budding yeast replication origins in the G1 phase are required for coupling of S phase with mitosis and for limiting of DNA
replication to once per cell cycle (16). While the ORC remains at origins during most or all of the cell cycle, a Cdc6 protein
that interacts with the ORC is required for Pre-RC formation (38). The minichromosome maintenance (Mcm) proteins, which
are considered to be components of a replication licensing factor that
limits replication to once in a cell cycle (8), are loaded onto chromatin after passage through mitosis in a Cdc6-dependent manner
(18). Associations of budding yeast Orc1, Cdc6, and Mcm proteins with chromosomal replication origins have been demonstrated by
precipitation of chromosome fragments with specific antibodies (chromatin immunoprecipitation [CHIP] assay) (4, 60).
The fission yeast mis5+ gene, originally
isolated from a mutant defective in chromosome segregation, encodes the
sixth Mcm family protein (SpMcm6) and is required for replication of
the fission yeast genome (58). Six fission yeast Mcm
proteins, including SpMcm6p and SpMcm2p, which is encoded by
nda1+/cdc19+, exist as a
heterohexamer complex in exponentially growing cells (1).
Although interaction of SpMcm4p, which is encoded by
cdc21+, with Orc1p and Cdc18p, a counterpart of
Cdc6p, has been suggested (25), it is still unclear whether
fission yeast Mcm proteins function at replication origins.
In this study, we focused on whether the fission yeast ORC and Mcm
proteins specifically interact with chromosomal replication origins.
The finding that Orp1p is associated with chromosomal replication
origins during most or all of the cell cycle while SpMcm6p is loaded
onto the origins in G1 phase, depending on the expression
of Cdc18p, suggests that fission yeast replication origins are
recognized by the ORC and a cell cycle-dependent protein complex
containing Mcm proteins is specifically formed at the origins.
Strains and media.
The S. pombe haploid strains
used were 972 h Preparation of antisera.
To express the 43- to
458-amino-acid region of SpMcm6p in E. coli, an
XhoI linker (5'CCCTCGAGGG3') was inserted into the
Hpal site of the mis5+ gene
(58) and the 1,245-bp XhoI fragment was inserted
into the Xhol site of pET-3bx, which had been made by
insertion of the XhoI linker into the end-filled
BamHI site of pET-3b. For expression of the 202- to
527-amino-acid region of SpMcm2p, a BamHI linker
(5'CCGGATCCGG3') was inserted into the EcoRV site of the
nda1+ gene cloned in pET-3 (49) and
the 975-bp BamHI fragment was inserted into the
BamHI site of pET-3c.
0270-7306/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Association of Fission Yeast Orp1 and Mcm6 Proteins
with Chromosomal Replication Origins

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ABSTRACT
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
References
![]()
INTRODUCTION
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
References
![]()
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
References
and HM123
h
leu1 (44) and the
temperature-sensitive cdc10-129 (46) and
cdc25-22 (21) mutant strains. TTY15
h
orp1::5xFLAG-orp1 carries a 5xFLAG tag
at the amino terminus of Orp1p (59). OGC12
h
cdc10-129 leu1
orp1::5xFLAG-orp1 and OGC9
h
cdc25-22
orp1::5xFLAG-orp1 were made by standard
genetic methods as described earlier (3). Fission yeast
strains were cultured in the complete medium YPD (1% yeast extract,
2% polypeptone, 2% glucose) and the minimal medium EMM
(43). Media containing 2% agar were used for plating. The
cdc10-129 and cdc25-22 derivatives were grown at
25°C and shifted to 36°C for 4 h to arrest cells in the
G1 phase and at the G2/M boundary,
respectively. To arrest cells in the early S phase, they were cultured
with hydroxyurea (HU), an inhibitor of ribonucleotide reductase, at a
final concentration of 10 mM at 30°C for 3 h. Transformation was
performed by electroporation (26).
pREP81-cdc18+ carrying the
cdc18+ gene cloned under the control of the
thiamine-regulatable nmt1 promoter (5) was
provided by P. Nurse. The nmt1 promoter was repressed by
adding 5 µg of thiamine per ml to EMM.
transformants as described previously (47). E. coli BL21 (DE3) (57) was used for peptide production
for immunization. E. coli strains were grown in LB broth
(1% Bacto Tryptone, 0.5% Bacto Yeast Extract, 1% NaCl).
-D(
)-thiogalactopyranoside and cultured for
4 h for induction of peptides. The peptides recovered as insoluble
inclusion bodies were purified by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide
gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), electroeluted, and concentrated with
Centriprep concentrators (Amicon) for immunization. Rabbit antibodies
against the SpMcm6 peptide were affinity-purified with a
N-hydroxysuccinimide-activated column (Pharmacia)
cross-linked with the peptide as recommended by the manufacturer. The
affinity-purified antibody bound to a protein in the fission yeast
extract with an apparent molecular mass of 110 kDa on SDS-PAGE. The
difference from the value predicted from the amino acid sequence (95.5 kDa) might be due to acidic amino acid residues clustered in SpMcm6p, as reported for SpMcm2p (49).
Preparation of cell extracts and immunoblotting.
S.
pombe haploid cells (3 × 108 cells) were
resuspended in 0.3 ml of HB buffer (25 mM MOPS [pH 7.2], 15 mM
MgCl2, 15 mM EGTA, 60 mM
-glycerophosphate, 15 mM
p-nitrophenylphosphate, 0.1 mM Na3VO4, 1 mM dithiothreitol, 1 mM
phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, 20 µg of leupeptin per ml, 20 µg of
aprotinin per ml) and disrupted with acid-washed glass beads using a
bead beater (Biospec Products). Proteins in the extracts were separated
by SDS-PAGE and transferred onto polyvinylidene difluoride membranes
(Immobilon; Millipore Corp.). The membranes were incubated for 1 h
at room temperature in blocking solution (10 mM Na-PO4 [pH
7.5], 154 mM NaCl, 0.05% Tween 20, 1% bovine serum albumin [BSA],
0.3% skim milk) and then reacted with affinity-purified rabbit
anti-SpMcm6, anti-SpMcm2 antibody or mouse anti-FLAG monoclonal
antibody M2 (Kodak) at a 1:1,000 dilution in blocking solution for
1 h at room temperature. Horseradish peroxidase-conjugated
anti-mouse or anti-rabbit immunoglobulin G (IgG; Amersham) was used as
the secondary antibody. Binding was visualized with the Amersham ECL system.
Preparation of chromatin-enriched fractions. For separation of chromatin-enriched insoluble fractions from soluble proteins, the method for budding yeast (18) was used with some modifications. Fission yeast cells (5 × 108 cells) placed in ice-cold STOP buffer (150 mM NaCl, 50 mM NaF, 10 mM EDTA, 1 mM NaN3) for 5 min were incubated at 37°C for 20 min in PEMS (100 mM PIPES [pH 6.9], 1 mM EGTA, 1 mM MgSO4, 1 M sorbitol) containing 1.2 mg of Lysing enzymes (Sigma) per ml and 0.4 mg of Zymolyase 20T (Seikagaku Corporation) per ml and washed with ice-cold 1 M sorbitol in 25 mM morpholinepropanesulfonic acid (MOPS; pH 7.2). Cells resuspended in HBS buffer (HB buffer supplemented with 0.4 M sorbitol) at a concentration of 109 cells/ml were lysed by addition of Triton X-100 at a final concentration of 0.5% for 5 min on ice, and the insoluble fraction was recovered by centrifugation for 15 min at 20,000 × g.
For digestion of cellular DNA with micrococcal nuclease (MNase), the insoluble fraction, washed and resuspended in 50 µl of digestion buffer (HBS containing 2.5 mM CaCl2 instead of EGTA), was incubated with 5 or 50 U of MNase for 2 min at 37°C. After centrifugation at 10,000 × g for 3 min, the pellet was subjected to another digestion as described above and the supernatant sum (100 µl) was used as the MNase supernatant fraction.Immunostaining of whole cells. Immunostaining of fission yeast cells was carried out as described previously (3). Briefly, cells fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde for 1 h at room temperature were incubated at 37°C in PEMS containing 1 mg of Lysing enzymes per ml and 0.3 mg of Zymolyase 20T per ml until approximately 10% of the cells lost their cell walls as observed under a microscope. The cells were permeabilized with 1% Triton X-100 in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and then transferred onto polylysine-coated glass slides. The slides were sequentially incubated at room temperature for 1 h in blocking solution containing 3% BSA and 0.1% skim milk in PBS, for 12 h with affinity-purified anti-SpMcm6 antibody, and then for 8 h with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-conjugated anti-rabbit IgG antibody (Amersham). The sample was stained with 0.2 µg of 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) per ml in PBS for 5 min and mounted with antifade-containing Vectashield mounting medium (Vector Laboratories).
Preparation of spread nucleoids. Immunostaining of spread nucleoids was performed as described earlier (7) with modifications. Cells incubated at 37°C in PEMS containing 1.2 mg of Novozyme 234 per ml and 0.4 mg of Zymolyase 20T per ml for 20 min until about 90% of the cells became spheroplasts were washed once and resuspended in MES/sorbitol buffer (0.1 M 2-[N-morpholino]ethanesulfonic acid [pH 6.5], 1 mM EDTA, 0.5 mM MgCl2, 1 M sorbitol) at a concentration of 5 × 108 cells/ml. This cell suspension (20 µl), placed on glass slides was mixed with 40 µl of 1% (wt/vol) paraformaldehyde in 3.4% sucrose, and then 80 µl of 0.1% Lipsol was immediately added. When about 80% of the spheroplasts had burst, 80 µl of 1% (wt/vol) paraformaldehyde in 3.4% sucrose was added and the cell suspension was spread over the glass slide surface and dried for 5 h.
Slides washed with 0.2% Photoflo (Kodak) were incubated for 15 min at room temperature in 3% BSA and 0.1% skim milk in TBS (20 mM Tris-HCl [pH 7.5], 0.15 M NaCl) and reacted with diluted anti-SpMcm6 antibody overnight at 4°C. After several washes with TBS, the samples were reacted with FITC-conjugated anti-rabbit IgG antibody under the same conditions used for the primary antibody, except that the incubation was for 2 h at room temperature in the dark. The samples were then stained with DAPI and mounted as described above.Centrifugal elutriation. Cells grown in YPD at 30°C to 107 cells/ml were pumped at 55 ml/min into a Beckman JE-6 elutriation rotor with a 10-ml chamber spinning at 2,500 rpm. Fractions (150 ml) were collected with an increase in the flow rate of 5 ml/min. The small-cell fractions, corresponding to approximately 10% of the total cell population, were concentrated by filtration and cultured in prewarmed YPD for progression through the cell cycle. Populations of septum-containing cells (septation index) were measured every 15 min to monitor the cell cycle.
CHIP. CHIP was performed as described previously (55, 60), with some modifications. Fission yeast cells (5 × 108) fixed in 1% formaldehyde for 15 min at room temperature and then in 125 mM glycine for 5 min were incubated at 37°C in PEMS with 1.2 mg of Lysing enzymes per ml and 0.4 mg of Zymolyase 20T per ml until about 10% had lost their cell walls. After being washed twice with TBS and resuspended in 0.4 ml of lysis buffer (50 mM HEPES-KOH [pH 7.4], 140 mM NaCl, 1 mM EDTA, 1% Triton X-100, 0.1% sodium deoxycholate, 1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, 10 µg of aprotinin per ml, 1 µg of leupeptin per ml, 1 µg of pepstatin per ml), the cells were disrupted with glass beads by using a bead beater for 1 min. The broken cells were sonicated four times for 15 s each until chromatin DNA was sheared into 500- to 700-bp fragments. Supernatant obtained by centrifugation at 12,000 × g for 10 min was used for immunoprecipitation with magnetic beads (Dynal) associated with mouse anti-FLAG or rabbit anti-SpMcm6 antibodies. Immunoprecipitates were washed and DNA was purified as described (55).
PCR amplification by ampli-Taq Gold (Perkin-Elmer) was performed in 30 µl of supplemented buffer with a 1/50 dilution of immunoprecipitated DNA or a 1/7,200 dilution of total DNA and a mixture of three sets of primers. The nucleotide sequences of the primers used were as follows: ars2004F, 5'-ATGGTAGATGGAGAAACGGG-3'; ars2004R, 5'-CACGGCATCTTTCTTCACGA-3'; ars3002F, 5'-TTGGCGCTAAACAATCTCTG-3'; ars3002R, 5'-TCCTTGTCGAACTCAATTGC-3'; nonARS1F, TCGAAGATCCTACCGCTTTC-3'; nonARS1R, 5'-GATTCACATAACCCGCTAGC-3'; nonARS2F, 5'-ATGTATAGCTGGAACGCCTG-3'; nonARS2R, 5'-TTCCTCAAATCACCCCACGT-3'. The concentrations of the ars2004, ars3002, nonARS1, and nonARS2 primers were 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, and 0.25 µM, respectively. The sequences of the primers within the ars2004 locus are as follows: ars2004-1F, 5'-AAAGAAGATTCGCGAGGCAC-3'; ars2004-1R, 5'-CAAGTTTATCCCCACTGATCC-3'; ars2004-2F, 5'-ATGGTAGATGGAGAAACGGG-3'; ars2004-2R, 5'-CACGGCATCTTTCTTCACGA-3'; ars2004-3F, 5'-CGCAGAAGTCCAACCTAAAA-3'; ars2004-3R, 5'-AATGGGAAAGGATGGACGGA-3'; ars2004-4F, 5'-GTGGTGGCAACTTTTGATGAATG-3'; ars2004-4R, 5'-CGATCGTTTTTGTTAGGGTGTG-3'. These primers were used at a concentration of 0.3 µM. An initial incubation for 9 min at 95°C to activate Taq polymerase was followed by 30 cycles of denaturation for 1 min at 94°C, annealing for 1 min at 53°C, and elongation for 2 min at 72°C and a final extension for 7 min at 72°C. PCR products were separated in 2.3% agarose gels and visualized with 0.5 µg of ethidium bromide per ml. The gel images obtained with a charge-coupled device camera (Epi-UV FA1100; Aisin Cosmos) were processed by using Photoshop (Adobe).| |
RESULTS |
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Association of fission yeast Orp1 and Mcm proteins with chromatin. To detect possible association of the fission yeast ORC and Mcm proteins with chromatin, we constructed haploid strain TTY15 carrying 5xFLAG-tagged orp1 under the control of the native promoter in place of the orp1+ gene on the chromosome. Exponentially growing TTY15 cells were gently lysed after digestion of their cell walls, and the chromatin-enriched insoluble fraction was separated from soluble proteins by centrifugation as described previously (18). Chromosomal DNA was precipitated in the pellet (Fig. 1A), while most of the proteins were recovered in the soluble fraction (Fig. 1B). By Western blotting of both fractions with anti-FLAG antibody, most of the FLAG-Orp1p was detected in the insoluble fraction (Fig. 1C). These results showed that Orp1p was associated with insoluble cellular components, including chromatin DNA. In contrast, the results of immunoblotting with the anti-SpMcm6 and anti-SpMcm2 antibodies showed that these proteins existed mostly in the soluble protein fraction of exponentially growing cells (Fig. 1C).
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Requirement of cdc18+ expression for association of SpMcm6p with chromatin. In fission yeast cells, G1- and S-specific expression of various genes is regulated by cdc10+ (40). In cdc10-129 mutant cells arrested in the G1 phase at the restrictive temperature, SpMcm6p was not present in the chromatin fraction (Fig. 4A, part 1), suggesting that its chromatin association depended on certain gene products regulated by cdc10+. It has been shown that expression of cdc18+, a counterpart of budding yeast CDC6, is regulated by cdc10+ (31). To examine whether Cdc18p is required for chromatin association of SpMcm6p, we used cdc10-129 cells transformed with pREP81-cdc18+ carrying the cdc18+ gene placed under the control of the nmt1 promoter, which is repressed in the presence of thiamine (5). By repressing the nmt1 promoter at the restrictive temperature, SpMcm6p was hardly detected in the chromatin fraction (Fig. 4A, part 3). In contrast, with constitutive expression of cdc18+ at the restrictive temperature, approximately one-third of the SpMcm6p was associated with chromatin (Fig. 4A, part 4). Flow cytometry analysis showed that most of the cdc10-129 cells expressing cdc18+ at the restrictive temperature contained 1C DNA content, suggesting that DNA replication did not occur under these conditions (Fig. 4B, part 4). Although the cdc18+ gene regulated by the nmt1 promoter has been shown to suppress the defect of the cdc10-129 mutation (31), cdc10-129 cells transformed with pREP81-cdc18+ grew very slowly at 34°C (data not shown). Some other factor(s) regulated by cdc10+ may not have been activated in G1-arrested cdc10-129 cells.
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Cell cycle-dependent localization of SpMcm6p at discrete foci on spread nucleoids. We examined the cellular localization of SpMcm6p in exponentially growing wild-type cells by immunostaining them with affinity-purified anti-SpMcm6 antibody. As shown in Fig. 5A, part b, SpMcm6-signals were located exclusively in the nuclei. The majority of exponentially growing fission yeast cells were in G2 phase. The nuclei in the binuclear cells (shown by the arrowheads in Fig. 5A, parts a and b), which were assumed to be in post-M to S phase, were also stained by the anti-SpMcm6 antibody. Furthermore, SpMcm6 signals were located in the nuclei of G1-arrested cdc10-129 mutant cells, G2/M-arrested cdc25-22 cells, and early-S-arrested wild-type cells cultured in the presence of HU (48). Nuclear localization of SpMcm6p throughout the cell cycle was thus indicated.
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Localization of Orp1p and SpMcm6p at chromosomal replication origins. To examine whether Orp1p and SpMcm6p were specifically associated with chromosomal replication origins, we employed the CHIP assay (4, 55, 60). Exponentially growing cells carrying the FLAG-orp1 gene were cross-linked with formaldehyde, and chromosomal DNA was fragmented by sonication. The DNA fragments recovered by immunoprecipitation with anti-FLAG or anti-SpMcm6 antibody were subjected to PCR amplification with specific primers. We have previously shown that the ars2004 locus on chromosome II functions as a replication origin in almost every cell cycle (50). Three sets of primers, namely, ars2004 primers to amplify a 239-bp segment in the ars2004 region and two non-ARS primer sets to amplify 195- and 289-bp fragments approximately 18 and 30 kb, respectively, distant from the ars2004 locus (Fig. 6A), were used for PCR. As shown in Fig. 6B, three DNA fragments were amplified to similar extents from the total cellular DNA without immunoprecipitation (lanes 1 to 5). On the other hand, the ars2004 fragment was preferentially amplified from DNA immunoprecipitated with the anti-FLAG antibody (Fig. 6B, lane 9). No specific DNA fragment was amplified without the FLAG-orp1 gene, cross-linking, or the anti-FLAG antibody (Fig. 6B, lanes 6 to 8). These results demonstrated that Orp1p specifically bound to the chromosomal ars2004 locus.
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DISCUSSION |
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In budding yeast replication origins, the 11-bp ARS consensus sequence is essential for interaction with the ORC. However, replication origins in other eukaryotic species, including fission yeast, do not appear to contain a short essential sequence (15, 23) and it has not been known whether the ORC is located at chromosomal replication origins. The present study demonstrated that a fission yeast ORC subunit and an Mcm protein are specifically localized at chromosomal replication origins. Orp1p is located at the ars2004 and ars3002 loci throughout the cell cycle, while SpMcm6p is associated with these origins only in the G1 and S phases. To our knowledge, this is the first indication of preferential localization of the ORC and Mcm proteins at the chromosomal replication origins in eukaryotic species except for budding yeast.
The CHIP assay finding that Orp1p was localized at ars2004 and ars3002 but not at non-ARS regions (Fig. 6) suggests that a certain sequence or DNA structure in the replication origins is recognized by the fission yeast ORC. Although there is no extensive sequence homology between these two ARS fragments, the regions required for the ARS activities are rich in adenines on a DNA strand (19, 51). Orp1p was preferentially located within a 1-kb region of ars2004M (Fig. 6) in which the replication initiation site had been mapped (50). ars2004M contains two adenine/thymine-rich regions, regions I and III, which are essential for ARS activity (51). Thus, an adenine-thymine-rich stretch is the primary candidate for the ORC-binding site. Segments 2 and 3, which are about 1 kb apart and proximal to regions I and III, respectively, were similarly amplified in the CHIP assay. The ORC would interact either with the unique region at the center of segments 2 and 3 or with multiple regions within ars2004M. Since the central region of ars2004M is not essential for ARS activity (51), it seems likely that ORCs interact with both regions I and III. Regions I and III can be functionally replaced with repeats of AAAT, but not AAT or AT, suggesting that various sequences with three or more consecutive adenines, rather than mere AT richness, are required for interaction with the ORC. These results suggest that the mechanism of interaction of the fission yeast ORC with replication origins might be different from that of the budding yeast ORC. Recently, fission yeast Orp4, a homologue of budding yeast Orc4, has been shown to contain AT-hook motifs that are involved in interaction with the minor groove of AT tracts in DNA (12). The N-terminal domain of Orp4p, with nine AT-hook motifs, specifically binds to the fission yeast ars1 fragment that contains adenine-thymine stretches. The DNA binding activity of Orp4p might participate in recognition of fission yeast replication origins. Further genetic and biochemical studies are required for better understanding of the nature of the fission yeast ORC.
The results of MNase digestion (Fig. 3) suggest that some Orp1p molecules are associated with insoluble nuclear components. We observed that chromosomal origin regions were not readily released from the insoluble fraction by sonication (48), suggesting that Orp1p in the insoluble fraction interacts with both chromatin and insoluble components. Interaction of the ORC with insoluble nuclear components might be involved in the localization of origins at certain nuclear structures. It has been reported that DNA replication in mammalian cells occurs in a distinct nuclear structure, called a replication factory, which is tightly attached to the nuclear matrix (27). On the other hand, the budding yeast ORC has been shown to be involved in cellular functions other than chromosome replication, such as silencing of mating type control (39) and mitotic chromatin condensation (17). The relationship of these functions to the subnuclear localization of the ORC remains to be elucidated.
In addition to Orp1p, SpMcm6p is preferentially located within an about 1-kb region of ars2004, as shown by the CHIP assay. SpMcm6p was associated with the ars2004 and ars3002 loci only during the G1 and S phases, at the same time as when it was associated with chromatin (compare Fig. 2 and 6). In a similar period of the cell cycle, SpMcm6p was detected as distinct foci on spread nucleoids (Fig. 5), suggesting that the foci contain replication origins associated with SpMcm6p. The number of SpMcm6 foci is, at most, 50, even in cells arrested early in S phase by addition of HU (48). Thus, the number of SpMcm6 foci per nucleoid is about 10 times smaller than the number of putative replication origins (50). Multiple replication origins that are associated with the ORC and Mcm proteins could be clustered in the foci. The clustering might facilitate effective activation and inactivation of a set of replication origins by cell cycle signals. Budding yeast Mcm7p has also been shown to be found as distinct foci on spread chromatin by immunostaining (60). In higher eukaryotic cells, however, the entire chromosome regions are immunostained with anti-Mcm antibodies (33, 36, 62). It remains to be solved whether higher eukaryotic Mcm proteins are located at specific regions of the chromosome or exist along the entire chromosome. Even in the former case, several thousand Mcm signals might not be separable as distinct foci due to possible overlapping.
For association of SpMcm6p with chromatin, Cdc18p, a homologue of Cdc6p, was required (Fig. 4). This is consistent with the requirement of Cdc6p, as well as the ORC, for chromatin loading of Mcm proteins in budding yeast and Xenopus egg extract (14, 18, 54). The ORC, Cdc6p, and Mcm proteins become sequentially associated with replication origins to form Pre-RCs (18). A certain temperature-sensitive mutation in orp1 impaired the association of Mcm6p with chromatin at the restrictive temperature (4a), suggesting dependency of chromatin-association of Mcm proteins on the ORC function. After loading of Mcm, however, the budding yeast and Xenopus ORCs and Cdc6p can be removed from chromatin without removing Mcm proteins, suggesting that Mcm proteins, once loaded, are associated with some other component (18, 29). The CHIP assay with anti-SpMcm6p showed that segment 2 was more efficiently amplified than segment 3 in ars2004M, while both segments were similarly amplified by immunoprecipitation with anti-FLAG antibody. The location of SpMcm6p within ars2004 might not be the same as that of the ORC. In human cells, the ORC and Mcm proteins are not colocalized within a 500-bp region of the chromosome (53).
Mcm proteins, components of Pre-RCs in budding yeast, are relocated at
nonorigin regions with kinetics similar to those of DNA polymerase
,
which moves with replication forks (4). Although we have not
observed significant association of SpMcm6p with non-ARS fragments
(Fig. 6), transient localization of Mcm proteins in non-ARS regions
might not be detected due to faster fork movement under our conditions.
On the other hand, Mcm proteins might be involved in possible unwinding
of replication origins, which results in association of replication
protein A (RPA), a single-stranded DNA binding protein complex
(61). Ishimi has shown that a hexamer complex composed of
human Mcm4, -6, and -7 proteins exhibits weak DNA helicase activity
(30). Possible Mcm protein DNA helicase activity could be
responsible for origin unwinding, replication fork movement, or both.
Since association and dissociation of Mcm proteins from replication
origins could be key reactions in the regulation of replication,
more-detailed analysis of molecular mechanisms of interaction of Mcm
proteins with replication origins is necessary. Fission yeast
replication origins composed of functional elements located far from
each other might be suitable for analysis of the assembly of various
protein factors during the process of initiation of replication.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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We thank D. Gilbert, T. Yonesaki, H. Araki, J. T. Lee, C. Obuse, and T. Tsurimoto for critical reading of the manuscript and helpful discussions; M. Yanagida, P. Nurse, and B. Stillman for providing yeast strains and plasmids; T. Tanaka for advice on chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis; and T. Usui for advice on preparation of spread nucleoids.
This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture of Japan.
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FOOTNOTES |
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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biology, Graduate School of Science, Osaka University, 1-1 Machikaneyama-cho, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-0043, Japan. Phone: 81-6-6850-5432. Fax: 81-6-6850-5440. E-mail: masukata{at}bio.sci.osaka-u.ac.jp.
Present address: Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts
General Hospital, and Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School,
Boston, MA 02114.
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