THE PLEIOTROPIC EFFECT OF THE GTS1 GENE-PRODUCT ON HEAT TOLERANCE, SPORULATION AND THE LIFE-SPAN OF SACCHAROMYCES-CEREVISIAE

We investigated whether or not the potential clock gene, GTS1, of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, shows pleiotropic effects on the yeast cellular processes. We tested the effect of the Gts1 protein on heat tolerance, sporulation and life-span, by characterizing the phenotypes of transformants with different copy numbers of the gene. We found th at the Gts1 protein affects the capacity of heat tolerance in the stat ionary phase and the speed leading to sporulation in a gene-dose depen dent manner, and that both inactivation and overexpression of the gene shortened the life-span of yeast. These results supported the notion that GTS1 affects the biological clock of the yeast S. cerevisiae, alt hough this cannot be definitively concluded because the strain cannot be synchronized with circadian or ultradian rhythms. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.