15.12.2012 Views

Transcriptional regulation of meiosis in budding yeast

Transcriptional regulation of meiosis in budding yeast

Transcriptional regulation of meiosis in budding yeast

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

1. Ndt80. NDT80 encodes a transcriptional activator that b<strong>in</strong>ds to the MSE and MSE* elements<br />

and activates transcription (Chu and Herskowitz, 1998). Cells deleted for NDT80 arrest follow<strong>in</strong>g<br />

the completion <strong>of</strong> premeiotic DNA replication and meiotic recomb<strong>in</strong>ation, at pachytene, as mono<br />

nucleate cells (Chu and Herskowitz, 1998; Hepworth et al., 1998; Xu et al., 1995). Ectopic<br />

expression <strong>of</strong> Ndt80 <strong>in</strong> vegetative growth conditions is sufficient to <strong>in</strong>duce the transcription <strong>of</strong><br />

most MMG (probably the ones carry<strong>in</strong>g the MSE rather than the MSE* element) (Chu et al.,<br />

1998; Chu and Herskowitz, 1998), suggest<strong>in</strong>g that under growth conditions, the second positive<br />

regulator, Ime2, is non-essential. Ime2 is also non-essential under meiotic conditions. When<br />

Ndt80 is expressed from a heterologous, IME2 <strong>in</strong>dependent promoter, the MMG, SPS4, is<br />

expressed <strong>in</strong> both IME2 and ime2∆ cells (Pak and Segall, 2002a). Nevertheless, <strong>in</strong> the latter,<br />

expression <strong>of</strong> SPS4 is both delayed and lower than <strong>in</strong> the IME2 diploid cells, suggest<strong>in</strong>g that Ime2<br />

may be required for high and efficient activity <strong>of</strong> Ndt80 (Pak and Segall, 2002a). This hypothesis<br />

is supported by the observation that Ime2 phosphorylates Ndt80 (Benjam<strong>in</strong> et al., 2002). Ndt80 is<br />

a phosphoprote<strong>in</strong> (Benjam<strong>in</strong> et al., 2002; Tung et al., 2000), whose <strong>in</strong> vivo extent <strong>of</strong><br />

phosphorylation depends on IME2 (Benjam<strong>in</strong> et al., 2002). Furthermore, <strong>in</strong> vitro k<strong>in</strong>ase assay<br />

demonstrates that Ime2 directly phosphorylates Ndt80 (Benjam<strong>in</strong> et al., 2002).<br />

Ndt80 is also required for high levels <strong>of</strong> transcription <strong>of</strong> IME1 as well as for its transient<br />

expression (Hepworth et al., 1998). This effect might be mediated through Ime2, s<strong>in</strong>ce Ndt80<br />

regulates the transcription <strong>of</strong> IME2, through an MSE element present <strong>in</strong> its promoter (Chu and<br />

Herskowitz, 1998).<br />

NDT80 is a <strong>meiosis</strong>-specific gene whose transcription is dependent on Ime1 and Ime2 (Fig. 13)<br />

(Chu and Herskowitz, 1998; Hepworth et al., 1998; Pak and Segall, 2002a). This regulated<br />

transcription is mediated by two URS1 and two MSE elements (Chu and Herskowitz, 1998;<br />

Hepworth et al., 1998; Pak and Segall, 2002a). One MSE element functions either as a repression<br />

or activation element under growth and meiotic condition, respectively, whereas the second one<br />

functions only as an activation element (Pak and Segall, 2002a; Xie et al., 1999). Furthermore,<br />

both URS1 elements contribute to repression <strong>of</strong> NDT80 <strong>in</strong> vegetative cultures and for its high<br />

level expression under meiotic conditions [(Pak and Segall, 2002a) and Fig. 13]. The presence <strong>of</strong><br />

the MSE elements delays NDT80 transcription by the Ume6/Ime1 complex <strong>in</strong> comparison to<br />

other EMG that carry only the URS1 element (Chu and Herskowitz, 1998; Hepworth et al., 1998;<br />

Mitchell et al., 1990; Pak and Segall, 2002a; Yoshida et al., 1990).<br />

2. Ime2. IME2 encodes a <strong>meiosis</strong>-specific prote<strong>in</strong> k<strong>in</strong>ase that shows 58.9% similarity and<br />

37% identity to the human cycl<strong>in</strong>-dependent k<strong>in</strong>ase, CDK2 (Kom<strong>in</strong>ami et al., 1993). The crystal<br />

31

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!