Abstract
A functional copy of the α mating type gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been cloned by transformation in yeast. Using the Southern blotting procedure it has been shown that three distinct genetic loci implicated in mating type interconversion (HML, HMR and MAT) contain sequences homologous to the cloned fragment. The restriction fragment associated with each locus exhibits a characteristic size which can be correlated with the mating type allele present at that locus. The characteristic size difference between the a and α genetic elements made it possible to demonstrate that the homothallic interconversion of mating types in this yeast occurs by DNA rearrangement as proposed in the ‘cassette hypothesis’.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Hicks, J., Strathern, J. & Herskowitz, I. in DNA Insertion Elements, Plasmids and Episomes (eds Bukhari, A., Shapiro, J. & Adhya, S.) 457–462 (Cold Spring Harbor, New York, 1977).
Herskowitz, I., Strathern, J. & Rine, J. in Proceedings of the 1977 UCN-UCLA Symposium: Molecular Approaches to Eukaryotic Genetic Systems (eds Wilcox, C., Abelson, J. & Fox, C. F.) 193–202 (Academic, New York, 1977).
Strathern, J. & Herskowitz, I. Cell 17, 371–381 (1979).
Winge, O. & Roberts, C. C.r. Lab. Carlsberg, Ser. Physiol. 24, 341–345 (1949).
Hawthorne, D. C. Abstr. Proc. 11th Int. Congr. Genet. 1, 34–35 (1963).
Oshima, Y., Takano, I., Genetics 67, 327–335 (1971).
Hicks, J. & Herskowitz, I. Genetics 83, 245–258 (1976).
Harashima, S., Nogi, Y. & Oshima, Y. Genetics 77, 639–650 (1974).
Naumov, G. I. & Tolstruokov, I. I. Genetika 9, 82–91 (1973).
Harishima, S. & Oshima, Y. Genetics 84, 437–451 (1976).
Klar, A. & Fogel, S. Genetics 85, 407–416 (1977).
Arima, K. & Takano, I. Genetics (in the press).
Hicks, J. & Herskowitz, I. Genetics 85, 373–393 (1977).
Strathern, J., Blair, L. & Herskowitz, I. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 76, 3425–3429 (1979).
Klar, A., Fogel, S. & Radin, D. Genetics (in the press).
Klar, A., Fogel, S. & MacLeod, K. Genetics (in the press).
Rine, J., Strathern, J., Hicks, J. & Herskowitz, I. Genetics (in the press.)
Haber, J. E. & George, J. P. Genetics (in the press).
Strathern, J., Newlon, C., Herskowitz, I. & Hicks, J. Cell 18, 309–319 (1979).
Kushner, P., Blair, L. & Herskowitz, I. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 76, 5264–5268 (1979).
Klar, A. & Fogel, S. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 76, 4539–4543 (1979).
Struhl, K., Stinchcomb, D. J., Scherer, S. & Davis, R. Proc. Natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 76, 1035–1039 (1979).
Broach, J., Strathern, J. & Hicks, J. Gene (in the press).
Hicks, J. & Fink, G. Nature 267, 263–265 (1977).
Hinnen, A. H., Hicks, J. B. & Fink, G. R. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 75, 170–174 (1978).
Cryer, D. F., Eccleshall, R. & Marmur, J. Meth. Cell Biol. 12, 39–44 (1975).
Goodman, H., Olsen, M. & Hall, B. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 72, 3961–3965 (1977).
Mortimer, R. K. & Hawthorne, D. C. in The Yeasts Vol. 1 (eds Rose, A. H. & Harrison, J.) 385–460 (Academic, New York, 1969).
Southern, E. M. J. molec. Biol. 98, 503–517 (1975).
Miller, H. H. Experiments in Molecular Genetics (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York, 1974).
Petes, T. D., Broach, J. R., Wensink, P. C., Hereford, L. M., Fink, G. R. & Botstein, D. Gene 4, 37–49 (1978).
Hicks, J. & Strathern, J. Brookhaven Symp. 29, 233–242 (1977).
Barrell, B. G., Air, G. M. & Hutchinson, C. A. III Nature 264, 34–41 (1976).
Pancha, E. et al. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 15, 2165–2169 (1978).
McDonald, M. V. & Whitehouse, H. L. K. Genetical Research (in the press).
Gutz, H. Genetics 69, 317–337 (1971).
Hawthorne, D. C. Genetics 48, 1727–1729 (1963).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hicks, J., Strathern, J. & Klar, A. Transposable mating type genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Nature 282, 478–483 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/282478a0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/282478a0
This article is cited by
-
Mating-type genes of the anamorphic fungus Ulocladium botrytis affect both asexual sporulation and sexual reproduction
Scientific Reports (2017)
-
An asexual fungus has the potential for sexual development
Molecular and General Genetics MGG (1996)
-
Deletion of theCochliobolus heterostrophus mating-type (MAT) locus promotes the function ofMAT transgenes
Current Genetics (1996)
-
Cloning and analysis of the mating type genes from Cochliobolus heterostrophus
Molecular and General Genetics MGG (1993)
-
Cloning of the mating-type gene MATA of the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica
Molecular and General Genetics MGG (1992)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.