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Molecular and Cellular Biology, January 2000, p. 224-232, Vol. 20, No. 1
Department of Genetics and Development,
College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York,
New York 10032-2704
Received 6 August 1999/Returned for modification 13 September
1999/Accepted 23 September 1999
In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, RAD1 and
RAD52 are required for alternate pathways of mitotic
recombination. Double-mutant strains exhibit a synergistic interaction
that decreases direct repeat recombination rates dramatically. A
mutation in RFA1, the largest subunit of a single-stranded
DNA-binding protein complex (RP-A), suppresses the recombination
deficiency of rad1 rad52 strains (J. Smith and R. Rothstein, Mol. Cell. Biol. 15:1632-1641, 1995). Previously, we
hypothesized that this mutation, rfa1-D228Y, causes an
increase in recombinogenic lesions as well as the activation of a
RAD52-independent recombination pathway. To identify
gene(s) acting in this pathway, temperature-sensitive (ts) mutations
were screened for those that decrease recombination levels in a
rad1 rad52 rfa1-D228Y strain. Three mutants were isolated.
Each segregates as a single recessive gene. Two are allelic to
RSP5, which encodes an essential ubiquitin-protein ligase.
One allele, rsp5-25, contains two mutations within its open
reading frame. The first mutation does not alter the amino acid
sequence of Rsp5, but it decreases the amount of full-length protein in
vivo. The second mutation results in the substitution of a tryptophan
with a leucine residue in the ubiquitination domain. In
rsp5-25 mutants, the UV sensitivity of
rfa1-D228Y is suppressed to the same level as in strains
overexpressing Rfa1-D228Y. Measurement of the relative rate of protein
turnover demonstrated that the half-life of Rfa1-D228Y in
rsp5-25 mutants was extended to 65 min compared to a 35-min
half-life in wild-type strains. We propose that Rsp5 is involved in the
degradation of Rfa1 linking ubiquitination with the
replication-recombination machinery.
RAD1 and RAD52
are involved in different pathways of mitotic recombination in yeast
(19, 39, 56). Although loss of function of neither
RAD1 nor RAD52 alone has a significant effect on
most mitotic direct repeat recombination assays, rad1 rad52
double mutants exhibit a synergistic interaction that decreases the
recombination rates dramatically (19, 39, 56). This result
has led to the hypothesis that RAD1 and RAD52 act
in two alternate recombination pathways.
Strains that are mutated for RAD1 are highly sensitive to UV
light and are completely defective in the incision step of excision repair of damaged DNA (12, 35). In vivo Rad1 and Rad10 form a stable complex that exhibits a single-stranded DNA endonuclease activity (57). The function of this complex is to remove the 3' nonhomologous regions of single-strand DNA that interfere with annealing and/or strand invasion during mitotic recombination. Consequently, rad1 cells cannot efficiently complete
recombination when the ends of the double-strand break contain
approximately 60 bp of nonhomology (9). Efficient
recombination is restored when the ends of the break are homologous to
the donor sequences or less than 40 bp (30).
RAD52 was identified as a mutation that confers extreme
sensitivity to gamma irradiation and to methyl methanesulfonate
(33). Genetic analysis has revealed that wild-type
RAD52 function is required to repair double-strand breaks
(23, 29, 34). More importantly, Rad52 is a conserved DNA
binding protein and promotes DNA strand annealing (26, 52).
It interacts physically with Rad51, a RecA homolog, that has been shown
to catalyze strand exchange (25, 42, 51, 53). Recently, it
was demonstrated that Rad52 stimulates Rad51-dependent strand exchange
reactions and that the binding of Rad52 to Rad51 is necessary for this
stimulatory effect (3, 27, 43).
A classical genetic approach was taken to study rad1 rad52
double mutants (7). A suppressor mutation,
rfa1-D228Y, was identified that restores wild-type levels of
direct repeat recombination in rad1 rad52 strains
(45). The wild-type RFA1 gene encodes the largest
component of an essential three-subunit complex, replication factor A
(4). Its human homolog is required for the initiation and
elongation steps of in vitro simian virus 40 replication, as well as
for excision repair (1, 5, 8). The rfa1-D228Y allele on its own causes a 15-fold increase in direct repeat
recombination levels. This hyper-recombination phenotype is
RAD52 independent and only partially dependent on the
RAD1 gene product. In addition, the mutant strains display
increased UV sensitivity and slow growth. Overexpression of the mutant
protein in rfa1-D228Y strains results in partial suppression
of the recombination defect and complete suppression of the UV
sensitivity phenotype. Interestingly, the amount of RP-A complex
present in extracts from rfa1-D228Y cells is reduced twofold
compared to the amount present in wild-type cells. Taken together,
these results suggest that the mutant RP-A complex is unstable and that
this instability can be compensated for by overexpression of mutant
Rfa1 (45).
To define further the rfa1-D228Y-dependent recombination
pathway, rad1 rad52 rfa1-D228Y triple-mutant strains were
screened for new mutations that decrease recombination. Here, we report that three temperature-sensitive (ts) mutations were isolated. Cloning
and sequencing analyses showed that two (rsp5-25 and
rsp5-26) are allelic to RSP5, a ubiquitin-protein
ligase. RSP5, repressor of spt3 phenotype, was
first isolated as a suppressor of Spt3, a subunit of the SAGA complex
(36). Subsequently, rsp5 mutations have been
observed to affect many diverse cellular processes. These include
stability of both the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II, Rpb1, and
the uracil permease, Fur4 (11, 18). Also, it was shown that
both the localization of Mod5 (a tRNA modifier) and the
mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade are affected by
rsp5 mutations (59, 62). One of the alleles
described here, rsp5-25, contains two changes in its open
reading frame (ORF). The first changes a tyrosine codon to an ochre
codon, resulting in the truncation of the full-length protein. In the
genetic background used for the screen, the ochre mutation is partially
suppressed by the tyrosine-inserting tRNA suppressor,
SUP4-o. This mutation does not create a change in
the amino acid sequence of Rsp5; however, it causes a decrease in the
level of full-length protein in vivo. The second mutation results in
the substitution of a tryptophan residue with a leucine residue in the
ubiquitination domain. Biochemical and genetic studies show that
Rfa1-D228Y is stabilized in rsp5-25 mutant strains. Thus,
the increased amount of Rfa1-D228Y protein causes a decrease in the
recombination levels of rad1 rad52 rfa1-D228Y strains. We
hypothesize that Rsp5 is involved in the degradation of Rfa1, thereby
linking ubiquitin-dependent protein degradation to the
replication-recombination machinery.
Media, strains, and genetic methods.
All media were prepared
as described previously (24, 45). Standard genetic
techniques were employed (41). All yeast strains are
derivatives of a RAD5 W303-1B (46, 55) unless otherwise noted and are listed in Table
1. W303 derivatives containing the
SUP4 duplication, leu2 direct repeats, and
rad1::HIS5, rad52::HIS5, rfa1-D228Y, and can1-100,x mutations were
described earlier (24, 45, 46). A modified version of the
SUP4 construct was used in this study (U928). The
URA3 gene flanked by the SUP4 repeats was
disrupted by the HIS3 gene. Lastly, cim3 cim5
strains (the 26S proteasome mutants) and their congenic wild-type
strain were gifts from C. Mann.
0270-7306/0/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Rsp5, a Ubiquitin-Protein Ligase, Is Involved in
Degradation of the Single-Stranded-DNA Binding Protein Rfa1 in
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
and
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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
TABLE 1.
Strains used in this study
Mutagenesis. A rad1 rad52 rfa1-D228Y strain with SUP4 and leu2 direct repeat constructs (W1698-11C) was mutagenized with 0.3% ethyl methanesulfonate to 10% survival as described previously (45). Next, 200,000 mutagenized colonies were grown at 23°C and were first screened for temperature sensitivity at 37°C. A total of 2,347 ts mutants were further tested for decreased recombination by replica plating onto canavanine-containing medium at 30°C. Recombination frequencies of mutants were measured by both SUP4 and leu2 direct repeats constructs as described previously (45, 46).
Plasmid constructions. The plasmid pWJ611 containing RAD1, RAD52, and RFA1 used for complementation was created in three steps. First, a 2.5-kb PstI-HindIII fragment of RFA1 was end filled by Klenow polymerase, and BamHI linkers were added. This fragment was cloned into the BamHI site of pRS414 (44) to create pWJ609. A 3.3-kb SalI fragment that contains full-length RAD52 was cloned into the SalI site of pWJ609 to generate pWJ610. Lastly, a 5.9-kb Klenow end-filled SalI fragment of RAD1 was cloned into the SmaI site of pWJ610 to create pWJ611.
The rsp5-25 complementing clone (pWJ670) was isolated from a library of Sau3A-digested yeast genomic DNA fragments cloned into YCp50 (38) and was shown by DNA sequence and restriction digest analyses to contain five ORFs (GLO3, YCK3, YER124, RSP5, and YER126). For linkage analysis, a 5.9-kb SalI fragment containing part of GLO3, as well as full-length YCK3 and YER124, was inserted into the SalI site of an integrating vector, YIp5 (48). As shown in Fig. 2B, three ClaI-ClaI fragments of 1.3, 2.5, and 4.9 kb were deleted to remove YCK3, YER124, RSP5, and YER126 (plasmid 1). To delete YER124, RSP5, and YER126, pWJ670 was also digested with EcoRV and religated (plasmid 2). The 5.9-kb SalI fragment from pWJ670 was ligated into the corresponding site in YCp50 (plasmid 3). In pWJ671, a 6.0-kb HindIII-HindIII fragment was deleted from pWJ670 to remove GLO3, YCK3, and YER124. In pWJ914, a 2.0-kb BstEII-BstEII fragment is deleted from pWJ671 so that most of the RSP5 ORF is also removed. pWJ708 and pWJ709 were constructed by cloning the wild-type RFA1 and rfa1-D228Y alleles, respectively, into pYX243 plasmid (kindly provided by Morten Dunø). The RFA1 alleles were amplified by PCR by using RFA1BH5 (5'-CGAGGATCCTATGAGCAGTGTTCAACTTTC-3') and RFA1BH3 (5'-CGAGGATCCGCTAACAAAGCC-3'). BamHI sites were introduced by PCR primers to permit the in-frame fusion of hemagglutinin (HA) tags at the C termini of RFA1 and rfa1-D228Y ORFs to aid in detection of Rfa1 protein by the HA antibody during protein blot analysis.Mapping and sequencing of rsp5-25. The mutations in the rsp5-25 allele were localized by a gap repair experiment (28). pWJ671 was digested with various combinations of the following enzymes: PmlI, SnaBI, BstEII, and XbaI to create several overlapping gaps in the RSP5 ORF (the thick lines in Fig. 3A). These linear plasmid fragments were transformed into W1713-1B, an rsp5-25 strain, and repaired circular plasmids were selected as Ura+ transformants. After rescue in Escherichia coli, several gap-repaired plasmids were retransformed into W1713-22D, a rad1 rad52 rfa1-D228Y rsp5-25 strain, to test for complementation. A 395-bp region between the SnaBI and BstEII sites in RSP5 was identified that contains the rsp5-25 mutation. Both mutant and wild-type plasmids were sequenced by using RSP5-G and RSP5-H primers.
Analysis of UV sensitivity. For any given genotype, UV sensitivity was determined by analyzing three segregants three times as described previously (45).
Analysis of degradation kinetics of Rfa1-D228Y and immunoprecipitations. Both RSP5 (W2015-1A) and rsp5-25 (W2015-4A) strains with the plasmid that contains the rfa1-D228Y gene under the control of GAL1 promoter were grown to 1 × 107 to 2 × 107 cells/ml in galactose liquid medium lacking leucine. Next, the cells were washed and resuspended in rich liquid medium (YPD liquid). For the S-phase experiments, 100 mM hydroxyurea (HU) was added to an early-log-phase culture for 6 h at 30°C. Next, the cells were washed and resuspended in YPD liquid medium with 100 mM HU. For both HU-arrested and nonarrested cultures, samples were taken every 15 and 30 min, respectively, for 3 h at 30°C.
Total protein extract was prepared from each sample by using glass bead disruption as described earlier (14). Then, 15 µg of total protein (determined by using the Bio-Rad Protein Concentration Assay) were separated by electrophoresis with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-10% polyacrylamide gels (Bio-Rad). The extracts were transferred to polyvinylidene difluoride membranes, and protein blot analysis was performed as described previously (45). The resulting bands on Kodak X-Omat films were quantitated by using a computing densitometer (model 300A; Molecular Dynamics). The exponential decay of concentration with time exhibited first-order reaction kinetics and was used to calculate the relative half-lives. The relative half-life of each genotype was determined by averaging the results from 9 to 12 trials. One representative of each is shown in Fig. 6A. It is important to note that the observed decay is a function of protein half-life, as well as mRNA half-life. The levels of Rsp5 protein present in different RSP5 backgrounds were determined by protein blot analysis as described above. The blots were incubated with monoclonal antibody raised against Rsp5, a kind gift from J. Huibregste. cim3 and cim5 mutant strains that overexpress rfa1-D228Y under the GAL1 promoter were used for the pulse-chase experiments as described previously (13). Immunoprecipitations were performed as described previously (4). After separation of the immunoprecipitates on SDS-10% polyacrylamide gels, the gels were processed with the Entensify Kit (DuPont) according to the manufacturer's instructions.| |
RESULTS |
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Isolation of mutations that reduce the recombination levels of
rad1 rad52 rfa1-D228Y strains.
To identify mutations
that decrease the recombination levels of rad1 rad52
rfa1-D228Y strains, two direct repeat recombination constructs
were employed. In each assay, decreased recombination is indicated by
fewer papillae in the selective medium. Each assay was chosen to
utilize different metabolic pathways to avoid specifically mutations
that affect a metabolic pathway. The first construct is a nontandem
leu2 direct repeat consisting of two leu2 mutant alleles, leu2-
EcoRI and leu2-
BstEII, that
are separated from each other by E. coli plasmid sequences
and a yeast selectable marker, URA3 (Fig.
1A). Direct repeat recombination events
that generate a single, wild-type LEU2 allele and delete the
intervening sequences are selected first on medium lacking leucine and
screened for uracil auxotrophy.
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and are selected on canavanine-containing medium.
For both the leu2 and the SUP4 constructs,
several possible recombination mechanisms can be envisioned to lead to
the retention of a single repeat. Such mechanisms include
intrachromosomal recombination, unequal sister chromatid exchange,
unequal sister chromatid gene conversion, replication slippage, and
single-strand annealing (6, 21, 22, 24, 31, 47, 54). Neither
of the two constructs allows these mechanisms to be distinguished from
one another, and thus all recombination events are collectively
referred to as plasmid loss. However, both constructs permit the
visualization of recombination levels simply by replica plating yeast
strains onto selective media. In rad1 rad52 rfa1-D228Y
strains, typically 20 to 30 papillae are observed after the
recombination event between the direct repeats (Fig.
2A). However, in rad1 rad52
strains, the number of papillae is lowered at least 10-fold (data not
shown).
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mrr1 and mrr3 are alleles of
RSP5, an essential ubiquitin-protein ligase.
A
centromere-based yeast library (38) was transformed into a
rad1 rad52 rfa1-D228Y mrr1 strain to identify a wild-type
clone by complementation. Among 5,000 transformants screened for
temperature resistance and subsequently for complementation of
decreased recombination, one complementing clone was identified. To
determine whether this clone encodes MRR1, we first
demonstrated that sequences from the library clone were genetically
linked to mrr1. Part of the insert was cloned into YIp5 as
described in Materials and Methods and integrated into a wild-type
strain by homologous recombination to mark the genomic integration site
with URA3. This Ura+ strain was crossed to a
rad1 rad52 rfa1-D228Y mrr1 strain. The resulting diploid was
sporulated and dissected. Eight rad1 rad52 rfa1-D228Y
Ura
segregants were tested, and each displayed a ts and a
low recombination phenotype, indicating the presence of
mrr1. In contrast, eight Ura+ rad1 rad52
rfa1-D228Y segregants were temperature resistant and had high
levels of recombination. This demonstrates that the complementing clone
is genetically linked to the wild-type MRR1 gene.
The defect in rsp5-25 is due to two mutations localized in its ubiquitination domain. Plasmid gap repair was used to localize the genetic alteration in the rsp5-25 mutant allele (28). By this analysis, a 395-bp region between the SnaBI and BstEII enzyme sites was shown to contain the mutation(s) (Fig. 3A). DNA sequence analysis of this region revealed two changes. The first, a T-to-A transversion at position 1941 in the RSP5 ORF, results in an ochre codon in place of a tyrosine codon (Fig. 3B) and truncates the protein from 803 to 647 amino acids. The second mutation is a T-to-G transversion at position 1950, resulting in a leucine-to-tryptophan substitution at residue 650 (Fig. 3B).
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Both mutations in rsp5-25 are required to suppresses rfa1-D228Y. Since rsp5-25 was isolated as a suppressor of rfa1-D228Y-stimulated direct repeat recombination, we next asked whether it suppresses the UV sensitivity exhibited by rfa1-D228Y strains. As a control, we showed that the rsp5-25 mutant strain itself is not sensitive to UV damage (data not shown). Figure 5 shows that the UV sensitivity of rfa1-D228Y is partially suppressed in an rsp5-25 rfa1-D228Y double mutant.
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The stability of Rfa1-D228Y is increased in rsp5-25
strains.
The relative stability of Rfa1-D228Y was measured and
compared in rsp5-25 and wild-type strains. A plasmid
containing a functional HA-tagged rfa1-D228Y allele under
the control of the GAL1 promoter was introduced into both
rsp5-25 rfa1
and RSP5 rfa1
strains. These
strains were grown in the presence of galactose until early log phase
and then shifted to glucose-containing medium to repress the
GAL1 promoter and to turn off the production of Rfa1-D228Y. Samples were taken at 30-min intervals for 3 h, and the Rfa1-D228Y protein levels were evaluated by protein blot analysis. As shown in
Fig. 6A, under these conditions the
half-life of Rfa1-D228Y in the rsp5-25 strain is 65 min
compared to 35 min in the RSP5 strain. Furthermore, Fig. 6B
shows that the same steady-state levels of Rfa1-D228Y protein is seen
in rfa1-D228Y rsp5-25 strains and rfa1-D228Y
strains where rfa1-D228Y is overexpressed.
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Rfa1 may be ubiquitinated in vivo. The observation that a mutation in Rsp5 destabilizes Rfa1 suggests that its turnover may be controlled by ubiquitination. Therefore, we examined Rfa1 for ubiquitin conjugates in vivo. Total Rfa1 protein was immunoprecipitated with Rfa1 antibodies from a strain containing cim3 and cim5 ts mutations that affect 26S proteasome function (13). In these strains, degradation of ubiquitinated proteins in the 26S proteasome is impaired and, at the restrictive temperature, substrates accumulate with branched ubiquitin chains. To visualize potential ubiquitinated forms of Rfa1, both cim3 and cim5 strains expressing wild-type Rfa1 endogenously and Rfa1-D228Y from a plasmid were labeled with [35S]methionine in a pulse-chase experiment. After the shift to the restrictive temperature, total Rfa1 was immunoprecipitated. Upon gel electrophoresis, a ladder of higher molecular weight forms of Rfa1 protein was detected, a finding that is consistent with heterogeneous ubiquitination (Fig. 7C).
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DISCUSSION |
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Ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis is a major pathway for protein degradation. It functions to regulate many cellular processes by modulating the availability of proteins in the cell (reviewed in reference 15). Ubiquitin, a very conserved 76-amino-acid peptide, marks proteins for degradation when it is covalently attached to them. Degradation occurs mainly in the 26S proteasome but also occasionally in the vacuole. A key group of enzymes of this pathway are the ubiquitin-protein ligases. Their role is to recognize substrates and to promote the transfer of ubiquitin, directly or indirectly, onto the substrates, thus targeting them for degradation (15).
In our search for mutations that reduce recombination levels in rad1 rad52 rfa1-D228Y strains, we isolated two alleles of RSP5, a gene encoding an essential protein ubiquitin ligase in S. cerevisiae (17, 58). In the present study we extensively characterized one of these alleles, rsp5-25. We observed that many aspects of the rsp5 rfa1-D228Y phenotype could be mimicked by overexpressing rfa1-D228Y. First, the fivefold reduction in leu2 direct repeat recombination observed in rad1 rad52 rfa1-D228Y rsp5-25 strains is similar to the 4.2-fold reduction seen when the Rfa1-D228Y protein is overexpressed in rad1 rad52 rfa1-D228Y strains (unpublished data). Similarly, the level of suppression of UV sensitivity in rfa1-D228Y rsp5-25 strains is the same as that seen when Rfa1-D228Y is overproduced in an rfa1-D228Y strain (45; Fig. 5). Third, the protein levels of Rfa1-D228Y in those same strains is increased to approximately the same levels (Fig. 6B). Furthermore, the half-life of Rfa1-D228Y is doubled in rsp5-25 strains (Fig. 6A). Finally, the ubiquitination and degradation of Rfa1 likely occurs in the 26S proteasome in vivo (Fig. 7C). Taken together, these results implicate Rsp5 in the degradation of Rfa1, a protein involved in DNA repair, recombination, and replication.
Molecular characterization revealed that the rsp5-25 allele contains two nucleotide changes. The first mutation causes a tyrosine-to-ochre codon change at position 647, thus truncating the protein in a sup4 background. In contrast, in a SUP4-o tyrosine ochre suppressor background, tyrosine is inserted as in the wild-type protein. However, suppression by SUP4-o is only partial; thus, the amount of the full-length Rsp5 protein is reduced approximately 10-fold. The second mutation substitutes a leucine residue for a conserved tryptophan residue at position 650. The two mutations were separated from each other, and both mutations are required in order to observe the rsp5-25 phenotype. Thus, the decreased level of full-length protein as well as the missense mutation in the conserved domain are necessary to alter the degradation kinetics of Rfa1-D228Y.
Although the consequences of rsp5 mutations on a variety of cellular processes are dramatic, their effects on the protein stability of known substrates (Fur4, Rfa1, and Rbp1) are only increased two- to fivefold (11, 18; this study). We offer several hypotheses to explain this observation. First, an even greater increase in stability may be observed in some alleles; however, such mutants may be lethal and thus could not be recovered. Second, cells may not be able to tolerate an increase in the stability of certain proteins, especially if these proteins are found in complexes. One example is the RP-A complex itself, where overexpression of only one RP-A subunit causes slow growth (5), which is likely due to a disruption in the equilibrium of the subunit concentrations. Third, Rsp5 may only recognize a specific form of its substrate, e.g., a phosphorylated form. Therefore, when the amount of the substrate form is low compared to the total amount of that protein, the consequent stabilization of only the minor form in an rsp5 mutant will not significantly affect the half-life measurement of that protein. Finally, Rsp5 may ubiquitinate a substrate at a specific point of the cell cycle. Thus, measurement of total protein turnover in an asynchronous population would obscure cell-cycle-specific changes for a particular protein. Similar observations have been made for some cyclin proteins (40). In fact, we observed that while the transcripts levels of RFA1 increase during S phase, Rfa1 protein levels remain constant throughout the cell cycle (Fig. 6C and D). We also found that the degradation kinetics of Rfa1 protein does not differ significantly between S-phase-arrested and nonarrested cells (data not shown), suggesting that regulation is at the level of translation. However, we cannot exclude the possibility, as discussed above, that a critical subpopulation of the total Rfa1 protein is degraded in a cell-cycle-dependent manner, since we can only measure the total amount of the Rfa1 protein in our experiments.
Studies on the molecular genetics and biochemistry of both RP-A and Rad52 may help explain the ts phenotype associated with the two rsp5 alleles in various genetic backgrounds. Recent work has shown that excess RP-A can actually inhibit DNA annealing in vitro (49, 52) and that Rad52 protein, which stimulates DNA annealing reactions (26, 52), can overcome this inhibition (49). Thus, rad52 rsp5 strains may be ts due to an increased level of Rfa1 that dramatically inhibits spontaneous annealing reactions. In support of this, we also observed that rad52 rfa1-D228Y strains that overexpress rfa1-D228Y display a similar ts phenotype (unpublished data). For the rsp5-26 allele, synthetic lethal interactions occur with any combination of rad1, rad52, rfa1-D228Y, or rad51. Although there are many possible explanations for this phenotype, perhaps an additional protein(s) is stabilized in the rsp5-26 strain that inhibits recombination in the presence of these mutations. Alternatively, the stabilized protein(s) may lead to an increase in recombinogenic lesions, which would be detrimental in the absence of efficient DNA repair.
The spontaneous direct repeat recombination events assayed here in rad1 rad52 rfa1-D228Y strains likely proceed via single-strand annealing according to the following scenario (45). The first step is a double-strand break in the plasmid sequence, after which degradation of the 5' ends leads to the formation of 3' single-stranded DNA tails (46, 50, 60). These single-stranded tails participate in the homology search and subsequent annealing to promote the recombination event (10). In rad52 strains, where annealing is greatly reduced, more-extensive degradation results in longer single-stranded 3' DNA (60). It was demonstrated recently that the rfa1-D228Y mutation suppresses the formation of the long single-stranded 3' DNA tracts normally found in rad52 mutants (46). Therefore, we suggest that, in a rad1 rad52 rfa1-D228Y rsp5 quadruple mutant, as a consequence of the prolonged half-life of Rfa1, the concentration of RP-A increases, allowing it to bind more extensively to single-stranded DNA. Consequently, this may reduce the ability of these DNA molecules to participate in the homology search and/or annealing reactions. This effectively reverses the recombination phenotype of the triple mutant (i.e., the increased recombination observed in rad1 rad52 rfa1-D228Y is reduced by the addition of an rsp5 mutation).
At the onset of this study, we mutagenized a rad1 rad52 rfa1-D228Y strain to help define the "pathway" responsible for the observed increased recombination. For example, if the rfa1-D228Y mutation specifically activated an alternative recombination pathway, we expected to find mutations that subsequently reduced various steps. Surprisingly, none were found. Instead, our extensive screen to identify genes in this putative pathway resulted in the isolation of a single ubiquitination gene twice. Both rsp5 alleles display synthetic lethality with rad52 at a restrictive temperature and, furthermore, turnover of the Rfa1-D228Y protein is slowed in the rsp5-25 background. These results argue that the rsp5 mutations affect recombination by altering the cellular pathway involved in protein stability.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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We thank Uffe Mortensen, Steve Sturley, Xiaolan Zhao, and especially Marcel Wehrli for comments on the manuscript and helpful discussions. We also thank Jon Huibregtse, Carl Mann, Bruce Stillman, and Steve Brill for the kind gifts of strains, plasmids, and antibodies. Finally, we thank Adam Bailis, Serge Gangloff, John McDonald, Julie Smith, and Hui Zou for encouragement and discussion throughout the course of this work.
This work was supported by National Institutes of Health grant GM50237 (R.R.).
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FOOTNOTES |
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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Genetics and Development, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, 701 West 168th St., New York, NY 10032-2704. Phone: (212) 305-1733. Fax: (212) 923-2090. E-mail: rothstein{at}cuccfa.ccc.columbia.edu.
Present address: Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton
University, Princeton, NJ 08544.
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