A novel nuclear gene, CBT1, essential for mitochondrial cytochrome b formation: terminal processing of mRNA and intron dependence.

We describe a new nuclear gene, CBT1 (Cytochrome B Termination), specifically involved in the generation of mature mRNA of cytochrome b in yeast mitochondria. Disruption of CBT1 (corresponding to ORF YKL 208W) results in a respiratory deficiency (no growth on acetate and ethanol, a reduced growth on glycerol, and a moderate growth on lactate). Cytochrome b is practically undetectable spectrally, while cytochromes a and a3 (cytochrome oxidase) appear unaffected by the disruption. Analysis of mitochondrial transcripts shows a reduced abundance of cytb mRNA, which in addition is approximately 200 nucleotides longer than that of the wild-type. Sequencing of the 3' region of the mutant cytb mRNA with an oligonucleotide primer positioned 148 nt downstream from the dodecamer sequence ("end-of-messenger" signal), demonstrates that the mutant transcript is extended beyond this position and is not processed at the conserved dodecamer cleavage site. The CBT1 gene product may be one of the components required for the exact 3' cleavage of the cytb messenger and may also be related to RNA splicing, since the intron-containing cytb gene is not as well expressed as the intron-less gene and the respiratory deficiency is more severe. We propose, that the CBT1 protein is necessary for the correct trimming of the end of cytb pre-mRNA and may be a part of the multi-component complex involved in this process.

Large-scale phenotypic analysis--the pilot project on yeast chromosome III.

In 1993, a pilot project for the functional analysis of newly discovered open reading frames, presumably coding for proteins, from yeast chromosome III was launched by the European Community. In the frame of this programme, we have developed a large-scale screening for the identification of gene/protein functions via systematic phenotypic analysis. To this end, some 80 haploid mutant yeast strains were constructed, each carrying a targeted deletion of a single gene obtained by HIS3 or TRP1 transplacement in the W303 background and a panel of some 100 growth conditions was established, ranging from growth substrates, stress to, predominantly, specific inhibitors and drugs acting on various cellular processes. Furthermore, co-segregation of the targeted deletion and the observed phenotype(s) in meiotic products has been verified. The experimental procedure, using microtiter plates for phenotypic analysis of yeast mutants, can be applied on a large scale, either on solid or in liquid media. Since the minimal working unit of one 96-well microtiter plate allows the simultaneous analysis of at least 60 mutant strains, hundreds of strains can be handled in parallel. The high number of monotropic and pleiotropic phenotypes (62%) obtained, together with the acquired practical experience, have shown this approach to be simple, inexpensive and reproducible. It provides a useful tool for the yeast community for the systematic search of biochemical and physiological functions of unknown genes accounting for about a half of the 6000 genes of the complete yeast genome.

Sterol esterification in yeast: a two-gene process.

Unesterified sterol modulates the function of eukaryotic membranes. In human cells, sterol is esterified to a storage form by acyl-coenzyme A (CoA): cholesterol acyl transferase (ACAT). Here, two genes are identified, ARE1 and ARE2, that encode ACAT-related enzymes in yeast. The yeast enzymes are 49 percent identical to each other and exhibit 23 percent identity to human ACAT. Deletion of ARE2 reduced sterol ester levels to approximately 25 percent of normal levels, whereas disruption of ARE1 did not affect sterol ester biosynthesis. Deletion of both genes resulted in a viable cell with undetectable esterified sterol. Measurements of [14C]acetate incorporation into saponified lipids indicated down-regulation of sterol biosynthesis in the are1 are2 mutant cells. With the use of a consensus sequence to the yeast and human genes, an additional number of the ACAT gene family was identified in humans.

Sequence and analysis of 24 kb on chromosome II of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

In the course of the European yeast genome sequencing project, we determined 23,920 bp of a continuous chromosome II right arm sequence. Analysis of data revealed 13 open reading frames (ORFs), three of which corresponded to previously identified genes; two tRNA genes and one repetitive element. One ORF showed considerable homology (46%) to a hypothetical chromosome III gene; another, putatively very hydrophobic gene product, was 30% identical to the heat-shock protein HSP30. Two ORFs were homologous to human genes.

Complete DNA sequence of yeast chromosome II.

In the framework of the EU genome-sequencing programmes, the complete DNA sequence of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae chromosome II (807 188 bp) has been determined. At present, this is the largest eukaryotic chromosome entirely sequenced. A total of 410 open reading frames (ORFs) were identified, covering 72% of the sequence. Similarity searches revealed that 124 ORFs (30%) correspond to genes of known function, 51 ORFs (12.5%) appear to be homologues of genes whose functions are known, 52 others (12.5%) have homologues the functions of which are not well defined and another 33 of the novel putative genes (8%) exhibit a degree of similarity which is insufficient to confidently assign function. Of the genes on chromosome II, 37-45% are thus of unpredicted function. Among the novel putative genes, we found several that are related to genes that perform differentiated functions in multicellular organisms of are involved in malignancy. In addition to a compact arrangement of potential protein coding sequences, the analysis of this chromosome confirmed general chromosome patterns but also revealed particular novel features of chromosomal organization. Alternating regional variations in average base composition correlate with variations in local gene density along chromosome II, as observed in chromosomes XI and III. We propose that functional ARS elements are preferably located in the AT-rich regions that have a spacing of approximately 110 kb. Similarly, the 13 tRNA genes and the three Ty elements of chromosome II are found in AT-rich regions. In chromosome II, the distribution of coding sequences between the two strands is biased, with a ratio of 1.3:1. An interesting aspect regarding the evolution of the eukaryotic genome is the finding that chromosome II has a high degree of internal genetic redundancy, amounting to 16% of the coding capacity.