SIGNALING PHOSPHATE STARVATION

Phosphate starvation induces the transcription of several genes involv ed in phosphate metabolism in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisi ae. The signal transduction pathway that mediates this response consis ts of components that resemble those used to regulate the eukaryotic c ell cycle; these include a cyclin-dependent kinase or CDK (Pho85), a c yclin (Pho80) and a CDK inhibitor (Pho81). The possibility that this p athway mediates cell-cycle responses to phosphate starvation is discus sed.