Jk. Lee et al., CHARACTERIZATION OF UVI15(-INDUCIBLE GENE FROM SCHIZOSACCHAROMYCES-POMBE(), A STRESS), MGG. Molecular & general genetics, 246(6), 1995, pp. 663-670
The uvi15(+) gene of Schizosaccharomyces pombe is a member of a group
of stress-inducible genes transcription levels of which increase in re
sponse to DNA-damaging agents or heat shock. It encodes a polypeptide
of calculated molecular mass 11641 Da, with no significant sequence si
milarity to other known heat shock proteins. The steady-state level of
the uvi15(+) gene product of about 12 kDa was increased by heat shock
and canavanine, an amino acid analog. This gene also showed a transie
nt increase in expression as cells moved into diauxic shift phase. Alt
hough deletion of the uvi15(+) gene did not affect the mitotic growth
or thermotolerance of cells, the mutant cells rapidly lost viability i
n stationary phase and under starvation conditions. These cells also s
howed a defect in sporulation ability. These results suggest that the
uvi15(+) gene encodes a stress response protein involved in the mainte
nance of cell viability during entry into stationary phase or under st
arvation conditions.