The mechanisms that control the size and shape of membranes are not well understood, despite the importance of these structures in determining organelle and cell morphology. The prospore membrane, a double lipid bilayer that is synthesized de novo during sporulation in S. cerevisiae, grows to surround the four meiotic products. This membrane determines the shape of the newly formed spores and serves as the template for spore wall deposition. Ultimately, the inner leaflet of the prospore membrane will become the new plasma membrane of the cell upon germination. Here we show that Spo71, a pleckstrin homology domain protein whose expression is induced during sporulation, is critical for the appropriate growth of the prospore membrane. Without SPO71, prospore membranes surround the nuclei but are abnormally small, and spore wall deposition is disrupted. Sporulating spo71⌬ cells have prospore membranes that properly localize components to their growing leading edges yet cannot properly localize septin structures. We also found that SPO71 genetically interacts with SPO1, a gene with homology to the phospholipase B gene that has been previously implicated in determining the shape of the prospore membrane. Together, these results show that SPO71 plays a critical role in prospore membrane development.
The membrane is an important determinant of the shape of biological structures (34). As both organelles and cells are bounded by lipid bilayers, membranes are instrumental in their morphology. However, the mechanisms that underlie the control of the size and shape of these limiting membranes are not fully understood.Diploid Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells undergo sporulation in response to a lack of nitrogen and fermentable carbon sources (reviewed in reference 26). During this process, the cell undergoes meiosis and remodels its interior as it packages the meiotic products into spores, the equivalent of its gametes. Four spores are formed within the mother cell, which becomes known as the ascus. Upon reintroduction of nutrients into the environment, these spores can either grow vegetatively as haploid cells or mate with cells of the opposite mating type to create diploid cells.The shape of these spores is determined by the prospore membrane (PSM), a double membrane that is synthesized de novo during sporulation by post-Golgi vesicle fusion at the spindle pole body. The PSM grows to surround the meiotic nuclei and undergoes a cytokinetic event to encapsulate each nucleus. The growth of the PSM must be regulated such that it grows to properly encapsulate nuclei and cytoplasmic material and matures into a spherical configuration (9, 40). Following completion of PSM development, the lumen of the double membrane expands and serves as the site of spore wall deposition. The spore wall, comprised of mannoprotein, -glucan, chitosan, and dityrosine layers, differs from the vegetative cell wall in its composition and offers increased protection to environmental stresses (7). Midway through spore morphogenesis, the outer prospore memb...