DUPLICATE Mutations In SID2, A Novel Gene In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Cause Synthetic Lethality With sic1 Seletion And May Cause A Defect During S Phase

M. D. Jacobsen
Claudia Ximena Muñoz , '99, Swarthmore College
Kirstin Suzanne Knox , '99, Swarthmore College
Beth Ellen Williams , '01, Swarthmore College
Lenette Lin Lu , '02, Swarthmore College
F. R. Cross
Elizabeth Ann Vallen, Swarthmore College

This work is available from PubMed Central at PMC1461789.

Abstract

SIC1 encodes a nonessential B-type cyclin/CDK inhibitor that functions at the G1/S transition and the exit from mitosis. To understand more completely the regulation of these transitions, mutations causing synthetic lethality with sic1 Delta were isolated. In this screen, we identified a novel gene, SID2, which encodes an essential protein that appears to be required for DNA replication or repair. sid2-1 sic1 Delta strains and sid2-21 temperature-sensitive strains arrest preanaphase as large-budded cells with a single nucleus, a short spindle, and an approximately 2C DNA content. RAD9, which is necessary for the DNA damage checkpoint, is required for the preanaphase arrest of sid2-1 sic1 Delta cells. Analysis of chromosomes in mutant sid2-21 cells by field inversion gel electrophoresis suggests the presence of replication forks and bubbles at the arrest. Deleting the two S phase cyclins, CLB5 and CLB6, substantially suppresses the sid2-1 sic1 Delta inviability, while stabilizing Clb5 protein exacerbates the defects of sid2-1 sic1 Delta cells. In synchronized sid2-1 mutant strains, the onset of replication appears normal, but completion of DNA synthesis is delayed. sid2-1 mutants are sensitive to hydroxyurea indicating that sid2-1 cells may suffer DNA damage that, when combined with additional insult, leads to a decrease in viability. Consistent with this hypothesis, sid2-1 rad9 cells are dead or very slow growing even when SIC1 is expressed.