The breast cancer tumor suppressor BRCA2-interacting protein, DSS1, and its homologs are critical for DNA recombination in eukaryotic cells. We found that Dss1p, along with Mlo3p and Uap56p, Schizosaccharomyces pombe homologs of two messenger RNA (mRNA) export factors of the NXF-NXT pathway, is required for mRNA export in S. pombe. Previously, we showed that the nuclear pore-associated Rae1p is an essential mRNA export factor in S. pombe. Here, we show that Dss1p and Uap56p function by linking mRNA adapter Mlo3p to Rae1p for targeting mRNA-protein complex (mRNP) to the proteins of the nuclear pore complex (NPC). Dss1p preferentially recruits to genes in vivo and interacts with -FG (phenylalanine glycine) nucleoporins in vivo and in vitro. Thus, Dss1p may function at multiple steps of mRNA export, from mRNP biogenesis to their targeting and translocation through the NPC.

Rae1p and Mex67p/Tap are conserved mRNA export factors. We have used synthetic lethal genetic screens in Schizosaccharomyces pombe to identify mutations in genes that are functionally linked to rae1 and mex67 in mRNA export. From these screens, we have isolated mutations in a putative S. pombe homologue of the Candida albicans elf1 gene. The elf1 of S. pombe is not an essential gene. When elf1 mutations are combined with rae1-167 mutation, growth and mRNA export is inhibited in the double mutants. This inhibition can be suppressed by the multicopy expression of mex67 suggesting that Mex67p can substitute for the loss of Elf1p function. Elf1p is a non-membrane member of the ATPbinding cassette (ABC) class of ATPase and the GFPElf1p fusion localizes to the cytoplasm. Elf1p, expressed and purified from Escherichia coli, binds and hydrolyzes ATP. A mutant Elf1p that carries a glycine to aspartic acid (G731D) mutation within the Walker A domain of the second ATP site retains the ATP binding but loses its ATPase activity in vitro. This mutant protein no longer functions in mRNA export. Taken together, our results show that Elf1p functions as a mRNA export factor along with Rae1p and Mex67p in S. pombe.In the eukaryotic cell, the nuclear envelope (NE) 1 separates the nucleus from the cytoplasmic compartment. Embedded within the NE are the nuclear pore complexes (NPC) through which nucleo-cytosolic exchanges take place. While small molecules of molecular mass 40 kDa and under can diffuse passively through the NPC, receptor proteins interact with the NPC to mediate the transport of macromolecules (1, 2). The mature mRNAs are exported out of the nucleus as ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes. Concurrent with transcription and splicing, the coordinated assembly of export-competent RNP complexes takes place in the nucleus by association of proteins with the maturing transcripts (3-5). In the cytoplasm, the RNP complexes are disassembled to release the mRNA and soluble export factors; the latter return to the nucleus for participating in the next round of mRNA export.The major components of the mRNA export machinery appear to be evolutionarily conserved. Genetic and biochemical approaches have led to the identification of several conserved export factors, Tap/Mex67p, Rae1p/Gle2p, Gle1, and Dbp5/ RHA from yeasts to metazoans (6 -13). The molecular mechanism of Mex67p/Tap function in mRNA export is understood in some detail, but how Rae1p/Gle2p function is largely unknown (5, 14). Nonetheless, there is a close reciprocal relationship between Rae1p and Mex67p in the two yeast systems that may indicate their functional homology and mechanistic similarity. Mex67/Tap are non-␤ karyopherin receptors. They associate with nucleoporins, bind mRNA, and interact with the RNAbinding protein, Aly/Yra1p, to mediate mRNA export (3, 5). Rae1p, on the other hand, is an NPC-associated, conserved WD-domain protein that is also required for cell-cycle progression at the G 2 /M boundary (8). While the hRae1p has been shown to bind mRNA and to shutt...

Mex67, the homolog of human TAP, is not an essential mRNA export factor in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Here we show that S. pombe encodes a homolog of the TAP cofactor that we have also named p15, whose function in mRNA export is not essential. We have identified and characterized two distinct nuclear export activities, nuclear export signal ( Evolutionarily conserved nuclear export factors (NXFs)

Mammalian UAP56 or its homolog Sub2p in Saccharomyces cerevisiae are members of the ATP-dependent RNA helicase family and are required for splicing and nuclear export of mRNA. Previously we showed that in Schizosaccharomyces pombe Uap56p is critical for mRNA export. It links the mRNA adapter Mlo3p, a homolog of Yra1p in S. cerevisiae or Aly in mammals, to nuclear pore-associated mRNA export factor Rae1p. In this study we show that, in contrast to S. cerevisiae, Uap56p in S. pombe is not required for pre-mRNA splicing. The putative RNA helicase function of Uap56p is not required for mRNA export. However, the RNAbinding motif of Uap56p is critical for nuclear export of mRNA. Within Uap56p we identified nuclear import and export signals that may allow it to shuttle between the nucleus and the cytoplasm. We found that Uap56p interacts with Rae1p directly via its nuclear export signal, and this interaction is critical for the nuclear export activity of Uap56p as well as for exporting mRNA. RNA binding and the ability to shuttle between the nucleus and cytoplasm are important features of mRNA export carriers such as HIV-Rev. Our results suggest that Uap56p could function similarly as an export carrier of mRNA in S. pombe.Mammalian UAP56 (Saccharomyces cerevisiae Sub2p) and its functional homologs belong to the conserved DECD box class of ATP-dependent RNA helicases that play important functional roles in multiple aspects of DNA and RNA metabolism (1). They are essential in a number of organisms, including yeast, nematode, and fruit fly (2). UAP56/Sub2p is directly involved in pre-messenger RNA splicing and nuclear export of messenger RNAs in S. cerevisiae and in metazoan cells (3). Recently, in Schizosaccharomyces pombe, we found that uap56 is an essential gene for growth and that Uap56p is critical for mRNA export (4). Mammalian UAP56 functions in both ATP-independent and ATP-dependent steps of the spliceosome assembly process (5). Uap56p homologs typically contain a characteristic ATP-binding site, a catalytic DECD box, and an RNA interaction motif. Mutations within the ATP-binding pocket or the catalytic DECD box residues abolished the splicing functions of UAP56 (5).

In higher plants the gametophyte consists of a gamete in association with a small number of haploid cells, specialized for sexual reproduction. The female gametophyte or embryo sac, is contained within the ovule and develops from a single cell, the megaspore which is formed by meiosis of the megaspore mother cell. The dyad mutant of Arabidopsis, described herein, represents a novel class among female sterile mutants in plants. dyad ovules contain two large cells in place of an embryo sac. The two cells represent the products of a single division of the megaspore mother cell followed by an arrest in further development of the megaspore. We addressed the question of whether the division of the megaspore mother cell in the mutant was meiotic or mitotic by examining the expression of two markers that are normally expressed in the megaspore mother cell during meiosis. Our observations indicate that in dyad, the megaspore mother cell enters but fails to complete meiosis, arresting at the end of meiosis 1 in the majority of ovules. This was corroborated by a direct observation of chromosome segregation during division of the megaspore mother cell, showing that the division is a reductional and not an equational one. In a minority of dyad ovules, the megaspore mother cell does not divide. Pollen development and male fertility in the mutant is normal, as is the rest of the ovule that surrounds the female gametophyte. The embryo sac is also shown to have an influence on the nucellus in wild type. The dyad mutation therefore specifically affects a function that is required in the female germ cell precursor for meiosis. The identification and analysis of mutants specifically affecting female meiosis is an initial step in understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying early events in the pathway of female reproductive development.