The PKC1 gene of budding yeast encodes a homolog of the c~, 13, and y isoforms of mammalian PKC that is proposed to regulate a MAPK-activation pathway. Mutants in this pathway undergo cell lysis resulting from a deficiency in cell wall construction when they attempt to grow at elevated temperatures. We show that the PKCl-regulated pathway is important for induced thermotolerance and that the MPK1 protein kinase (the MAPK of this pathway) is strongly activated by mild heat shock. This activation is sustained during growth at high temperature and is dependent on the function of pathway components proposed to function upstream of MPK1, including PKC1. Expression of genes under the control of known heat shock-inducible promoter elements (HSEs and STREs) was not compromised in PKCI pathway mutants, indicating that this pathway mediates a novel aspect of the yeast heat shock response. We propose that the heat-induced signal for pathway activation is generated in response to weakness in the cell wall created during growth under thermal stress, perhaps as a result of increased membrane fluidity. Evidence is presented that the mechanism by which the cell detects this weakness is by measuring stretch of the plasma membrane.

SummaryThe cell integrity pathway of Saccharomyces cerevisiae monitors cell wall remodelling during growth and differentiation. Additionally, this pathway responds to environmental stresses that challenge the integrity of the cell wall. We conducted a genome-wide survey of genes whose expression was altered in response to activation of Mpk1/Slt2, the MAP kinase, under the control of cell integrity signalling. We identified 25 genes whose regulation was altered by Mpk1 activity. Among these, 20 were positively regulated by Mpk1, and five were negatively regulated. Most of the genes identified encode either known or suspected cell wall proteins or enzymes involved in cell wall biogenesis. These include glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol (GPI) proteins, members of the Pir family of cell wall proteins, Mpk1 itself and others. All of the regulation detected was mediated by the Rlm1 transcription factor, a MADS-box protein that is phosphorylated and activated by Mpk1, but for which no transcriptional targets had been identified. A similar pattern of regulation was observed when cell integrity signalling was induced by environmental stress (i.e. temperature upshift).

SummaryThe Mpk1 MAP kinase of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell wall integrity signalling pathway phosphorylates and activates the Rlm1 transcription factor in response to cell wall stress. Rlm1 is related to mammalian MEF2 isoforms, and shares a similar DNAbinding specificity. Signalling through Rlm1 regulates the expression of at least 25 genes, most of which have been implicated in cell wall biogenesis. We report here the transcriptional induction by agents of cell wall stress of a set of lacZ reporter plasmids derived from several Rlm1-responsive genes. Analysis of substitution mutations at putative Mpk1 phosphorylation sites within Rlm1 revealed that Ser427 and Thr439 are important for its stress-induced transcriptional activation of these reporter plasmids. Assessment of Rlm1 activation potency when fused to a heterologous DNA-binding domain showed that the identified seryl and threonyl residues are necessary for the Rlm1 transcriptional activation function independently of its DNA binding. We also demonstrate that a MAP kinase docking site, shown recently to mediate activation of MEF2A and MEF2C, is conserved in Rlm1 and is required for its ability to mediate transcriptional activation in response to agents that induce cell wall stress. Finally, intracellular localization analyses show that Rlm1 resides in the nucleus regardless of its activation and phosphorylation status. Together these observations support the inference that Mpk1 regulates the Rlm1 transcriptional activation function by phosphorylation of Ser427 and Thr439.

FKS1 and FKS2 are alternative subunits of the glucan synthase complex, which is responsible for synthesizing 1,3-␤-glucan chains, the major structural polymer of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell wall. Expression of FKS1 predominates during growth under optimal conditions. In contrast, FKS2 expression is induced by mating pheromone, high extracellular [Ca 2؉ ], growth on poor carbon sources, or in an fks1 mutant. Induction of FKS2 expression in response to pheromone, CaCl 2 , or loss of FKS1 function requires the Ca 2؉ /calmodulindependent protein phosphatase calcineurin. Therefore, a double mutant in calcineurin (CNB1) and FKS1 is inviable due to a deficiency in FKS2 expression. To identify novel regulators of FKS2 expression, we isolated genes whose overexpression obviates the calcineurin requirement for viability of an fks1 mutant. Two components of the cell integrity signaling pathway controlled by the RHO1 G protein (MKK1 and RLM1) were identified through this screen. This signaling pathway is activated during growth at moderately high temperatures. We demonstrate that calcineurin and the cell integrity pathway function in parallel, through separable promoter elements, to induce FKS2 expression during growth at 39°C. Because RHO1 also serves as a regulatory subunit of the glucan synthase, our results define a regulatory circuit through which RHO1 controls both the activity of this enzyme complex and the expression of at least one of its components. We show also that FKS2 induction during growth on poor carbon sources is a response to glucose depletion and is under the control of the SNF1 protein kinase and the MIG1 transcriptional repressor. Finally, we show that FKS2 expression is induced as cells enter stationary phase through a SNF1-, calcineurin-, and cell integrity signalingindependent pathway.The cell wall of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is required to maintain cell shape and integrity (4,20). Vegetative proliferation requires that the cell remodels its wall to accommodate growth. The main structural components responsible for the rigidity of the yeast cell wall are 1,3-␤-linked glucan polymers with some branches through 1,6-␤ linkages. The biochemistry of the yeast enzyme complex that catalyzes the synthesis of 1,3-␤-glucan chains has been studied extensively (15, 29), and three genes that encode components of this complex have been identified. A pair of closely related genes, FKS1 and FKS2, encode alternative subunits of the 1,3-␤-glucan synthase (GS) (8,15,28,36). Either FKS1 or FKS2 function is sufficient for GS activity and cell viability. Additionally, the Rho1 GTPase is an essential regulatory subunit of the GS complex, serving to stimulate GS activity in a GTP-dependent manner (9, 35).A second essential function of RHO1 is to regulate the cell integrity signaling pathway by binding and activating protein kinase C (19, 33), which is encoded by PKC1 (25). Loss of PKC1 function results in a cell lysis defect that is attributable to a deficiency in cell wall construction (23,24,34 ...

The RPI1 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was identified initially as a dosage suppressor of the heat shock sensitivity associated with overexpression of RAS2 (J. Kim and S. Powers, Mol. Cell. Biol. 11:3894-3904, 1991). Based on its failure to suppress mutationally activated RAS2, RPI1 was proposed to be a negative regulator of the Ras/cyclic AMP (cAMP) pathway that functions at a point upstream of Ras. We isolated RPI1 as a high-copy-number suppressor of the cell lysis defect associated with a null mutation in the MPK1 gene, which encodes the mitogen-activated protein kinase of the cell wall integrity-signaling pathway. Although the sequence of Rpi1 is not informative about its function, we present evidence that this protein resides in the nucleus, possesses a transcriptional activation domain, and affects the mRNA levels of several cell wall metabolism genes. In contrast to the previous report, we found that RPI1 overexpression suppresses defects associated with mutational hyperactivation of the Ras/cAMP pathway at all points including constitutive mutations in the cAMP-dependent protein kinase. We present additional genetic and biochemical evidence that Rpi1 functions independently of and in opposition to the Ras/cAMP pathway to promote preparations for the stationary phase. Among these preparations is a fortification of the cell wall that is antagonized by Ras pathway activity. This observation reveals a novel link between the Ras/cAMP pathway and cell wall integrity. Finally, we propose that inappropriate expression of RPI1 during log phase growth drives fortification of the cell wall and that this behavior is responsible for suppression of the mpk1 cell lysis defect.