| Title: | The asymmetric chemical structures of two mating pheromones reflect their differential roles in mating of fission yeast |
| Author(s): | Seike T; Maekawa H; Nakamura T; Shimoda C; |
| Address: | "Microbial Genetics Laboratory, Genetic Strains Research Center, National Institute of Genetics, 1111 Yata, Mishima, Shizuoka 411-8540, Japan taisuke.seike@riken.jp. Yeast Genetic Resources Laboratory, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 1-6 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan. Department of Biology, Graduate School of Science, Osaka City University, 3-3-138 Sugimoto, Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka 558-8585, Japan" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1477-9137 (Electronic) 0021-9533 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the mating reaction is controlled by two mating pheromones, M-factor and P-factor, secreted by M- and P-type cells, respectively. M-factor is a C-terminally farnesylated lipid peptide, whereas P-factor is a simple peptide. To examine whether this chemical asymmetry in the two pheromones is essential for conjugation, we constructed a mating system in which either pheromone can stimulate both M- and P-cells, and examined whether the resulting autocrine strains can mate. Autocrine M-cells responding to M-factor successfully mated with P-factor-lacking P-cells, indicating that P-factor is not essential for conjugation; by contrast, autocrine P-cells responding to P-factor were unable to mate with M-factor-lacking M-cells. The sterility of the autocrine P-cells was completely restored by expressing the M-factor receptor. These observations indicate that the different chemical characteristics of the two types of pheromone, a lipid and a simple peptide, are not essential; however, a lipid peptide might be required for successful mating. Our findings allow us to propose a model of the differential roles of M-factor and P-factor in conjugation of S. pombeThis article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper" |
| Keywords: | "Cell Communication/*genetics DNA-Binding Proteins/*metabolism *Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal Genes, Fungal Peptides/metabolism Pheromones/*metabolism Schizosaccharomyces/genetics/*metabolism Schizosaccharomyces pombe Proteins/metabolism Autocrine Cel;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineSeike, Taisuke Maekawa, Hiromi Nakamura, Taro Shimoda, Chikashi eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2019/06/13 J Cell Sci. 2019 Jun 25; 132(12):jcs230722. doi: 10.1242/jcs.230722" |
