FUNCTIONAL ASSESSMENT OF THE YEAST RVS161 AND RVS167 PROTEIN DOMAINS

Mutations in RVS161 and RVS167 yeast genes induce identical phenotypes associated to actin cytoskeleton disorders, The whole Rvs161 protein is similar to the aminoterminal part of Rvs167p, thus defining a RVS d omain, In addition to this domain, Rvs167p contains a central glycine- proline-alanine rich domain and a SH3 domain, To assess the function o f these different domains we have expressed recombinant Rvs proteins i n rvs mutant strains, Phenotype analysis has shown that the RVS and SH 3 domains are necessary for phenotypical complementation, whereas the GPA domain is not, Moreover, we have demonstrated that the RVS domains from Rvs161p and Rvs167p have distinct roles, and that the SH3 domain needs the specific RVS domain of Rvs167p to function, These results s uggest that Rvs161p and Rvs167p play distinct roles, while acting toge ther in a common function. (C) 1997 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.