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F Sherman

Publications and source records attributed to F Sherman.

At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources

Role of DNA sequences in genetic recombination in the iso-1-cytochrome c gene of yeast. I. Discrepancies between physical distances and genetic distances determined by five mapping procedures.

Recombination rates have been examined in two-point crosses of various defined cyc1 mutants using five mapping methods. Nucleotide sequences of mutant codons were identified in previous studies from alterations in functional iso-1-cytochromes c produced by intragenic revertants. Heteroallelic diploids were analyzed for rates of mitotic recombination that occurred spontaneously and that were induced with x-rays, ultraviolet light and the near-ultraviolet light emitted by sunlamps, as well as rates of meiotic recombination that occur after sporulation. Frequencies of both mitotic and meiotic recombination do not necessarily correspond with physical distances separating altered nucleotides. The most extreme discrepancy involved two adjacent intervals of thirteen basepairs which differed approximately thirty-fold in their spontaneous and X-ray-induced recombination rates. Marked disproportions between genetic and physical distances appear to be due to the interaction of the two nucleotide sequences in the heteroallelic combination and not to the sequences of the mutant codons alone. Recombination values that were obtained by all five methods could not be used to establish to correct order of mutant sitesmrelationships of the recombination rates for the various pairwise crosses are different after mitosis from those after meiosis, suggesting that these two recombinational processes are to some extent different in their dependence on particular nucleotide configurations. On the other hand, the relationships of the rates induced by UV-, sunlamp- and X-irradiation were identical or very similar. In addition to the intrinsic properties of the alleles affecting frequencies of mitotic and meiotic recombination rates, two- to threefold variations in recombination rates could be attributed to genetic backgrounds.

Base Sequence↗

A deletion map of cyc1 mutants and its correspondence to mutationally altered iso-1-cytochromes c of yeast.

Mutants arising spontaneously from sporulated cultures of certain strains of yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, contained deletions of the CYC1 gene which controls the primary structure of iso-1-cytochrome c. At least 60 different kinds of deletions were uncovered among the 104 deletions examined and these ranged in length from those encompassing only two adjacent point mutants to those encompassing at least the entire CYC1 gene. X-ray-induced recombination rates of crosses involving these deletions and cyc1 point mutants resulted in the assignment of 211 point mutants to 47 mutational sites and made it possible to unambiguously order 40 of these 47 sites. Except for one mutant, cyc1-15, there was a strict colinear relationship between the deletion map and the positions of 13 sites that were previously determined by amino acid alterations in iso-1-cytochromes c from intragenic revertants.

Chromosome Aberrations↗

Genetic and physiological characterization of met15 mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae: a selective system for forward and reverse mutations.

One hundred and thirty-three spontaneous and induced mutants of the met15 locus in Saccharomyces cerevisiae were characterized with respect to temperature sensitivity, osmotic remediability, interallelic complementation, and suppressibility by amber and ochre suppressors. Forty mutants are osmotic remedial; 17 of these, and no others, are also temperature-sensitive. Seven of 133 mutations are suppressible by an amber suppressor and 11 are suppressible by an ochre suppressor. Seventy percent of the mutants exhibited interallelic complementation, suggesting that the functional gene product of the met15 gene is a multimeric protein. Relative map positions of 30 met15 were estimated from the frequencies of X-ray-induced mitotic reversion of various heteroallelic diploids. All complementing nonsense mutations are located near one end of the gene in contrast to other nonsense mutations which span most of the gene, thus relating the direction of translation of the mRNA with respect to the fine-structure map. Recombination studies indicated that two of 30 mutants contained deletions of the entire met15 locus. -- It was established that a variety of mutational types, including missense, nonsense, and deletions, are recovered with this unique system in which both forward and reverse mutations can be selected on the basis of methyl mercury resistance and methionine requirement of the met15 mutants.

Alleles↗

Mapping and gene conversion studies with the structural gene for iso-1-cytochrome C in yeast.

We have investigated the order of the four genes cyc1, rad7, SUP4, and cdc8 which form a tightly linked cluster on the right arm of chromosome X in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Crossing over and coconversion data from tetrad analysis established the gene order to be centromere-cyc1-rad7-SUP4. Also cdc8 appeared to be distal to SUP4 on the basis of crossovers that were associated with conversion of SUP4. The frequencies of recombination and the occurrence of coconversions suggest that these four genes are contiguous or at least nearly so. Gene-conversion frequencies for several cyc1 alleles were studied, including cyc1-1, a deletion of the whole gene that extends into the rad7 locus. The cyc1-1 deletion was found to be capable of conversion, though at a frequency some fivefold less than the other alleles studied, and both 3:1 and 1:3 events were detected. In general 1:3 and 3:1 conversion events were equally frequent at all loci studied, and approximately 50% of conversions were accompanied by reciprocal recombination for flanking markers. The orientation of the cyc1 gene could not be clearly deduced from the behavior of the distal marker SUP4 in wild-type recombinants that arose from diploids heteroallelic for cyc1 mutations.

Chromosome Mapping↗

Differentiation between amber and ochre mutants of yeast by reversion with 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide.

4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide (NQO) induces high frequencies of intragenic revertants of amber (UAG) but not ochre (UAA) mutants of yeast. Distinction of the amber and ochre codons was made with well-characterized nonsense mutants of the iso-1-cytochrome c gene (cyc1 mutants) as well as with nonsense mutants having nutritional requirements. Thus the NQO-induced reversion frequencies corroborated the assignments that were based on the pattern of amino acid replacements in intragenic revertants and on the speficity of suppression. It was concluded from these results and from the results of a previous investigation with other cyc1 mutants (Prakash, Stewart and Sherman 1974) that NQO induces transversions of G:C base pairs at many sites and that the specificity is not strongly influenced by neighboring base pairs in at least the strains examined in these studies. NQO was previously shown to induce G:C --> A:T transitions at least at one site and this and the previous study established that it does not significantly mutate A:T base pairs at numerous sites. Thus NQO can be used to selectively mutate G:C base pairs and to determine if the pathways of reverse mutations involve G:C base pairs. Suppressors that act on either amber or ochre mutants were induced with NQO, indicating that they can arise by mutations of G:C base pairs.

Base Sequence↗

Mutants of yeast defective in iso-1-cytochrome c.

A medium containing chlorolactate has been devised to enrich for mutants that are unable to utilize lactate for growth, and therefore that may be defective in cytochrome c. Complementation tests of 6,520 chlorolactate-resistant mutants that were obtained spontaneously or induced with UV, ICR-170, or nitrosoimidazolidone resulted in the identification of 195 mutations at the cyc1 locus, which controls the primary structure of iso-1-cytochrome c. These 195 mutants, with 16 cyc1 mutants previously isolated, were examined for total cytochrome c by spectroscopic methods, growth on lactate medium, suppressibility by defined nonsense suppressors, mutational sites by x-ray-induced recombination, ability to revert, and in 86 cases, whether intragenic revertants contain altered iso-1-cytochrome c. Except for the deletion mutant cyc1-1, all of the mutants appeared to contain single-site mutations that could be assigned to at least 35 different sites within the gene. The cyc1 mutants either completely lacked iso-1-cytochrome c or contained iso-1- cytochromes c that were completely or partially nonfunctional. In spite of the fact that the cyc1 mutants obtained by the chlorolactate procedure were selected on the basis of defective function, 68% appeared to completely lack iso-1-cytochrome c. The remaining cyc1 mutants contained below normal amounts of iso-1-cytochromes c. Studies at several incubation temperatures indicated that these nonfunctional iso-1-cytochromes c were thermolabile. It is suggested that the predominant means for abolishing iso-1-cytochrome c by mutations are either through a complete loss, such as produced by chain terminating codons, or impairments through drastic changes of tertiary structure which lead to instability and thermolability.

Acridines↗

Variation of mutagenic action on nonsense mutants at different sites in the iso-1-cytochrome c gene of yeast.

Three ochre and two amber mutants in yeast have been definitively identified by the amino acid replacements in iso-1-cytochromes c from intragenic revertants. Except for rare and sometimes unusual changes, all of the replacements were single amino acids whose codons differed from UAA or UAG by one base. These assignments, which were based on the absence of tryptophan replacements in ochre revertants, could be corroborated from the studies of two groups of suppressors that were shown to act on either the ochre or amber mutants. All five nonsense mutants are located at different sites in the cyc1 gene and all are at sites that can be occupied by amino acids having a wide range of structures. The relative frequencies of the amino acid replacements indicate that identical codons located at different sites may respond differently to a mutagenic agent. Notably glutamine replacements occurred almost exclusively in UV-induced revertants of only one ochre mutant cyc1-9, but not at all or at reduced proportions in the others. Similarly, lysine replacements occurred almost exclusively in the NA-induced revertants of only the ochre mutant cyc1-72, but not at all in the others. These and other results reveal that mutation of A.T base pairs by UV and nitrous acid are dependent upon the location of the codon within the gene as well as the location of the base pair within the codon. From these findings, it appears as if the type of base-pair changes induced by UV and nitrous acid are strongly influenced by adjacent nucleotide sequences.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Characteristics and relationships of mercury-resistant mutants and methionine auxotrophs of yeast.

Approximately one-half of the mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae that are selected as resistant to methyl mercury are also found to require methionine. Eighty-four percent of these met mutations occur at the met15 locus, and the remaining 16% occur at the met2 locus. Surprisingly, the methionine-requiring mutants are recovered at a much higher frequency on methionineless media than on media supplemented with methionine. Growth patterns of the met mutants on media having a continuous concentration gradient of methionine and mercury compounds indicate that, at a critical concentration of the mercury compounds, the methionine requirement of certain met mutants is partially or completely alleviated. This was found for met2, met15, and to a lesser extent for met6, but not for any other methionine mutants. This loss of methionine requirement is produced with methyl mercury, phenyl mercury, and mercuric chloride although met2 and met15 strains can be shown to be resistant only to methyl mercury. Other methionine auxotrophs are not resistant to any of the three mercury compounds. The met2 and met15 mutants, but not the other methionine auxotrophs, develop a sheen of an unidentified product when grown on media with mercuric chloride but not with methyl mercury or phenyl mercury. It is suggested that met2 and met15 mutants produce a simple diffusible substance, which detoxifies methyl mercury, which reacts with mercuric chloride to produce a sheen, and which is the cause of the methionine requirement.

Alkanesulfonates↗

Micromanipulator for yeast genetic studies.

An inexpensive mechanical micromanipulator, designed primarily for separating yeast ascospores, can be assembled from commercially available components and without extensive custom machining.

Genetic Techniques↗