Gcs1 is an Arf GTPase-activating protein (Arf-GAP) that mediates Golgi-ER and post-Golgi vesicle transport in yeast.Here we show that the Snc1,2 v-SNAREs, which mediate endocytosis and exocytosis, interact physically and genetically with Gcs1. Moreover, Gcs1 and the Snc v-SNAREs colocalize to subcellular structures that correspond to the trans-Golgi and endosomal compartments. Studies performed in vitro demonstrate that the Snc-Gcs1 interaction results in the efficient binding of recombinant Arf1⌬17N-Q71L to the v-SNARE and the recruitment of purified coatomer. In contrast, the presence of Snc had no effect on Gcs1 Arf-GAP activity in vitro, suggesting that v-SNARE binding does not attenuate Arf1 function. Disruption of both the SNC and GCS1 genes results in synthetic lethality, whereas overexpression of either SNC gene inhibits the growth of a distinct subset of COPI mutants. We show that GFP-Snc1 recycling to the trans-Golgi is impaired in gcs1⌬ cells and these COPI mutants. Together, these results suggest that Gcs1 facilitates the incorporation of the Snc v-SNAREs into COPI recycling vesicles and subsequent endosome-Golgi sorting in yeast.

Dimorphic growth of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is regulated by the quality of the nitrogen supply. On a preferred nitrogen source diploid cells grow as ellipsoidal cells by using a bipolar pattern of budding, whereas on a poor nitrogen source a unipolar pattern of budding is adopted, resulting in extended pseudohyphal chains of filamentous cells. Here we report that the quality of the nitrogen source is signaled by the glutamine tRNA isoform with a 5-CUG anticodon (tRNA CUG ). Mutations that alter this tRNA impair assessment of the nitrogen supply without measurably affecting protein synthesis, so that mutant cells display pseudohyphal growth even on a preferred nitrogen source. The nitrogen status for other nitrogen-responsive processes such as catabolic gene expression and sporulation also is signaled by this tRNA: mutant cells inappropriately induce the nitrogen-repressed gene CAR1 and undergo precocious sporulation in nitrogen-rich media. Therefore, in addition to its role in mRNA translation, this tRNA also transduces nitrogen signals that regulate development.All cells have sensitive mechanisms to sense and respond to their environment, including the availability of nutrients. For the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the ''quality'' of the nutritional environment regulates several developmental processes. For example, the process of meiosis and sporulation of diploid yeast cells is regulated in part by the nitrogen source, in that many sources of nitrogen can prevent meiosis and sporulation (reviewed in ref. 1). The morphological growth alternative of pseudohyphal development by diploid cells also is regulated by the nitrogen source: pseudohyphal growth is permitted by a poor nitrogen source such as proline, but prevented by a preferred nitrogen source such as ammonium ions (2). For each of these developmental alternatives, signaling networks that mediate the proper execution of these processes are being identified (1, 3, 4), and for pseudohyphal growth a regulatory component has been found with the potential for nitrogen sensing (5). However, for neither pseudohyphal growth nor sporulation is the mechanism(s) for sensing and͞or initial signaling of the availability or quality of the nitrogen source well understood.Here we report that the nitrogen-responsive developmental processes of pseudohyphal growth and sporulation are both affected by a yeast tRNA molecule. We show that mutations that affect the sequence of this tRNA, which decodes the codon CAG using the anticodon CUG, can bring about pseudohyphal growth without measurable effects on overall protein synthesis and, specifically, without effect on the decoding of CAG codons. This pseudohyphal growth of mutant cells takes place in nitrogen-rich conditions that inhibit the pseudohyphal growth of wild-type cells. The same tRNA CUG mutations allow sporulation in nitrogen-rich media and derepress transcription of the nitrogen-repressed gene CAR1. The tRNA CUG molecule is aminoacylated with glutamine, suggesting that glutaminy...

Promoters that control gene expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae only in a sporulation-specific manner have previously been isolated from a genomic yeast DNA library fused to a promoterless Escherichia coli lacZ gene. Two novel sporulation-specific genes, SPS18 and SPS19, were isolated using this technique. These genes are divergently controlled by the same promoter but with SPS18 expressed at four times the level of SPS19. Deletion analysis has shown that the promoter elements that exert sporulation control on each of the genes overlap, having a common 25 bp sequence located within the intergenic region. SPS18 encodes a 34-KDa protein of 300 amino acids that contains a putative zinc-binding domain and a region of highly basic residues that could target the protein to the nucleus. SPS19 encodes a 31-KDa protein of 295 amino acids, which has a peroxisomal targeting signal (SKL) at its C terminus; this protein belongs to the family of non-metallo short-chain alcohol dehydrogenases. A null mutation deleting the intergenic promoter prevented expression of both genes, and when homozygous in diploids, reduced the extent of sporulation four-fold; the spores that did form were viable, but failed to become resistant to ether, and were more sensitive to lytic enzymes. This phenotype reflects a defect in spore wall maturation, indicating that the product of at least one of the genes functions during the process of spore wall formation. Therefore these genes belong to the class of late sporulation-specific genes that are sequentially activated during the process of meiosis and spore formation.

Host diet influences the diversity and metabolic activities of the gut microbiome. Previous studies have shown that the gut microbiome provides a wide array of enzymes that enable processing of diverse dietary components. Because the primary diet of the porcupine, Erethizon dorsatum, is lignified plant material, we reasoned that the porcupine microbiome would be replete with enzymes required to degrade lignocellulose. Here, we report on the bacterial composition in the porcupine microbiome using 16S rRNA sequencing and bioinformatics analysis. We extended this analysis to the microbiomes of 20 additional mammals located in Shubenacadie Wildlife Park (Nova Scotia, Canada), enabling the comparison of bacterial diversity amongst three mammalian taxonomic orders (Rodentia, Carnivora, and Artiodactyla). 16S rRNA sequencing was validated using metagenomic shotgun sequencing on selected herbivores (porcupine, beaver) and carnivores (coyote, Arctic wolf). In the microbiome, functionality is more conserved than bacterial composition, thus we mined microbiome data sets to identify conserved microbial functions across species in each order. We measured the relative gene abundances for cellobiose phosphorylase, endoglucanase, and beta-glucosidase to evaluate the cellulose-degrading potential of select mammals. The porcupine and beaver had higher proportions of genes encoding cellulose-degrading enzymes than the Artic wolf and coyote. These findings provide further evidence that gut microbiome diversity and metabolic capacity are influenced by host diet.