We have sequenced and annotated the genome of ®ssion yeast (Schizosaccharomyces pombe), which contains the smallest number of protein-coding genes yet recorded for a eukaryote: 4,824. The centromeres are between 35 and 110 kilobases (kb) and contain related repeats including a highly conserved 1.8-kb element. Regions upstream of genes are longer than in budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), possibly re¯ecting more-extended control regions. Some 43% of the genes contain introns, of which there are 4,730. Fifty genes have signi®cant similarity with human disease genes; half of these are cancer related. We identify highly conserved genes important for eukaryotic cell organization including those required for the cytoskeleton, compartmentation, cell-cycle control, proteolysis, protein phosphorylation and RNA splicing. These genes may have originated with the appearance of eukaryotic life. Few similarly conserved genes that are important for multicellular organization were identi®ed, suggesting that the transition from prokaryotes to eukaryotes required more new genes than did the transition from unicellular to multicellular organization.We report here the completion of the fully annotated genome sequence of the simple eukaryote Schizosaccharomyces pombe, a ®ssion yeast. It becomes the sixth eukaryotic genome to be sequenced, following Saccharomyces cerevisiae 1 , Caenorhabditis elegans 2 , Drosophila melanogaster 3 , Arabidopsis thaliana 4 and Homo sapiens 5,6 . The entire sequence of the unique regions of the three chromosomes is complete, with gaps in the centromeric regions of about 40 kb, and about 260 kb in the telomeric regions. The completion of this sequence, the availability of sophisticated research methodologies, and the expanding community working on S. pombe, will accelerate the use of S. pombe for functional and comparative studies of eukaryotic cell processes.

The minichromosome maintenance (or MCM) protein family is composed of six related proteins that are conserved in all eukaryotes. They were first identified by genetic screens in yeast and subsequently analyzed in other experimental systems using molecular and biochemical methods. Early data led to the identification of MCMs as central players in the initiation of DNA replication. More recent studies have shown that MCM proteins also function in replication elongation, probably as a DNA helicase. This is consistent with structural analysis showing that the proteins interact together in a heterohexameric ring. However, MCMs are strikingly abundant and far exceed the stoichiometry of replication origins; they are widely distributed on unreplicated chromatin. Analysis of mcm mutant phenotypes and interactions with other factors have now implicated the MCM proteins in other chromosome transactions including damage response, transcription, and chromatin structure. These experiments indicate that the MCMs are central players in many aspects of genome stability

The fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe is a popular model system, and has been particularly influential in studies of the cell cycle and chromosome dynamics. Despite its differences from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the tools and methods for fission yeast are conceptually similar to those used in budding yeast. Here, we present basic methods sufficient for a beginner in this system to carry out most required manipulations for genetic analysis or molecular biology.

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(2). The other regulated system was constructed from the tetracycline-inducible system described by Faryar and Gatz (3). The two constitutive promoters were the previously described vectors pART1 (containing the adh promoter; .(4) and pSMl (containing the SV40 promoter; 5).The expression vector REP3, containing the thiamine-inducible nmtl promoter (1), and its derivatives REP41 and REP81 (2), which have lower levels of activity due to mutation, all contain an ATG within their polylinker. This was destroyed by insertion of a Xho linker; these derivatives are called REP3X (full strength nmtl), REP41X (slightly weaker; nmtl*) and REP81X (much weaker; nmtl **). The tetracycline expression system was originally described in (3) and modified for more general use. The expression vector, pSLF101, has the constitutive CaMV promoter adjacent to the tet operator as described in (3); in addition, it contains a polylinker, and the LEU2 and arsI markers for selection in fission yeast. A ura4+ marked version, pSLF102, was also constructed but not tested. The tet represser, which blocks transcription from the otherwise constitutive CaMV promoter, was provided by integration of plasmid pSLF104 into a strain of genotype h-ade6-704 leul-32 ura4-D18. The plasmid contains the marker sup3-5, which suppresses ade6-704, and the tet represser gene under control of the S.pombe adh promoter, as described by Faryar and Gatz (3). The resulting fission yeast strain, FY191, thus produces a constitutive tetracycline repressor protein.A 3 kb BamHI cassette containing the beta-galactosidase gene (6) was cloned into the BamHI site in the polylinkers of all the vectors, and transformed into a fission yeast strain of genotype h-leul-32 ura4-D18. Media and methods were as described in (7). The tet-inducible pSLF101-lacZ was also transformed into the strain with the integrated tetracycline repressor. Betagalactosidase assays were carried out as described in (8). All assays were carried out after growth for 24 hrs at 30°C on strains grown to

The CYCl gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is positively regulated by the HAP2 and HAPS proteins, which form a heteromeric complex that binds to a CCAAT box in the upstream activation site, UAS2, and which activate transcription in a nonfermentable carbon source. We carried out a genetic analysis to identify additional trans-acting regulatory factors exerting their effects through UAS2. We present the identification and characterization of a new locus, HAP4, which is shown to encode a subunit of the DNA-binding complex at UAS2. In the bap4 mutant, the binding of HAP2 and HAP3 (HAP2/3) is not observed in vitro. The HAP4 gene is regulated transcriptionally by a carbon source, suggesting that it encodes a regulatory subunit of the bound complex. The sequence of HAP4 shows a highly acidic region, which innactivated the protein when deleted. Replacement of this region with the activation domain of GAL4 restored activity, suggesting that it provides the principal activation domain to the bound HAP2/3/4 complex.

A STE20/p65pak homolog was isolated from fission yeast by PCR. The pak1+ gene encodes a 72 kDa protein containing a putative p21‐binding domain near its amino‐terminus and a serine/threonine kinase domain near its carboxyl‐terminus. The Pak1 protein autophosphorylates on serine residues and preferentially binds to activated Cdc42p both in vitro and in vivo. This binding is mediated through the p21 binding domain on Pak1p and the effector domain on Cdc42p. Overexpression of an inactive mutant form of pak1 gives rise to cells with markedly abnormal shape with mislocalized actin staining. Pak1 overexpression does not, however, suppress lethality associated with cdc42‐null cells or the morphologic defeat caused by overexpression of mutant cdc42 alleles. Gene disruption of pak1+ establishes that, like cdc42+, pak1+ function is required for cell viability. In budding yeast, pak1+ expression restores mating function to STE20‐null cells and, in fission yeast, overexpression of an inactive form of Pak inhibits mating. These results indicate that the Pak1 protein is likely to be an effector for Cdc42p or a related GTPase, and suggest that Pak1p is involved in the maintenance of cell polarity and in mating.

As in many eukaryotic cells, fission yeast cytokinesis depends on the assembly of an actin ring. We clonedmyp2+ , a myosin-II inSchizosaccharomyces pombe, conditionally required for cytokinesis. myp2+ , the second myosin-II identified in S. pombe, does not completely overlap in function with myo2+ . The catalytic domain of Myp2p is highly homologous to known myosin-IIs, and phylogenetic analysis places Myp2p in the myosin-II family. The Myp2p sequence contains well-conserved ATP- and actin-binding motifs, as well as two IQ motifs. However, the tail sequence is unusual, since it is predicted to form two long coiled-coils separated by a stretch of sequence containing 19 prolines. Disruption of myp2+ is not lethal but under nutrient limiting conditions cells lackingmyp2+ function are multiseptated, elongated, and branched, indicative of a defect in cytokinesis. The presence of salt enhances these morphological defects. Additionally,Δmyp2 cells are cold sensitive in high salt, failing to form colonies at 17°C. Thus, myp2+ is required under conditions of stress, possibly linking extracellular growth conditions to efficient cytokinesis and cell growth. GFP-Myp2p localizes to a ring in the middle of late mitotic cells, consistent with a role in cytokinesis. Additionally, we constructed double mutants of Δmyp2 with temperature-sensitive mutant strains defective in cytokinesis. We observed synthetic lethal interactions between Δmyp2 and three alleles ofcdc11ts, as well as more modest synthetic interactions with cdc14ts and cdc16ts, implicatingmyp2+ function for efficient cytokinesis under normal conditions.