Time of gene expression in relation to centromere distance during the cell cycle of Saccharomyces cereviseae

Periodic density fluctuation during the yeast cell cycle and the selection of synchronous cultures

Yeast cells undergo periodic fluctuations in density during the cell division cycle such that a minimum in density occurs at the time of cell separation whereas a maximum occurs between the time of deoxyribonucleic acid replication and nuclear division. Synchronous cultures can be selected from asynchronously growing cell cultures by withdrawing the cells of least or greatest density after banding in Renografin-sucrose density gradients. This technique is rapid, reproducible, and almost unlimited in capacity.

Clocked cell cycle clocks

The cell division cycle of both mammalian cells and microorganisms, which apparently has both deterministic and probabilistic features, is a clock of sorts in that the sequence of events that comprise it measures time under a given set of environmental conditions. The cell division cycle may itself be regulated by a programmable clock that, under certain conditions, can generate circadian periodicities by interaction with a circadian pacemaker. These clocks must insert time segments into the cell division cycle in order to generate the observed variability in cellular generation times.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell cycle

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The Effect of Light on the Synthesis of Mitochondrial Enzymes in Division-synchronized Euglena Cultures

The development of the mitochondrial enzymes fumarase and succinate dehydrogenase has been followed in Euglena cultures division-synchronized by 14-hour light periods alternating with 12-hour dark periods. The activity of both enzymes was unaltered over the light phase, doubled in early dark phase, and thereafter remained constant over the rest of the cycle. The increase in enzyme activity in early dark phase probably represented de novo enzyme synthesis because it was prevented by the addition of cycloheximide at a concentration known to inhibit protein synthesis on Euglena cytoplasmic ribosomes.When division-synchronized cultures were darkened in early light phase, a doubling of both fumarase and succinate dehydrogenase activity resulted, showing that light was repressing enzyme synthesis. The addition of acetate did not have a similar effect to darkening cultures: enzyme activity being unaltered over the light phase of the cycle. Enzyme expression was also unaffected by the addition of 3-(3,4 dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea, a potent inhibitor of photosynthetic carbon dioxide fixation. The addition of 6-methylpurine (an inhibitor of transcription) at the beginning of the light phase inhibited enzyme increase in early dark phase, but when added at a later stage of the light phase (hour 8), increase in enzyme activity in early dark phase was unaffected. We concluded that transcription for these enzymes occurs in early light phase but light exerts a post-transcriptional control so that enzyme synthesis does not result until cells enter the dark phase of the cell cycle.

Macromolecular synthesis during the germanation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae spores

After the dormancy of Saccharomyces cerevisiae ascospores had been broken, the synthesis of proteins was observed first, followed rapidly by synthesis of ribonucleic acid (RNA) and much later by deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesis. Phosphoglucomutase activity increased in a periodic (step) fashion, whereas the activity of five other enzymes increased linearly during germination and outgrowth. The rate of synthesis of these enzymes was highest at about the period of DNA replication. The amino acid pools of dormant spores contained high levels of proline, glutamic acid, and histidine. At 2 h after onset of germination, the pools of phenylalanine and methionine had disappeared and the other components had decreased significantly. By 3.5 h, with the exception of proline and cystine, most amino acid pool components had significantly increased.

Effect of reversible inhibition of deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis on the yeast cell cycle

Hydroxyurea (HU) preferentially inhibited deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) replication and division in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Growth, ribonucleic acid synthesis, and protein synthesis were less sensitive to this drug. Upon addition of HU, cells underwent one cycle of budding and the nuclei migrated into the necks between the mother cells and buds. Neither the nucleus nor the cells divided. Removal of HU allowed immediate resumption of DNA synthesis. Nuclear division, budding, and cell division occurred 1.5, 2, and 4 hr, respectively, after HU was removed. If protein synthesis was blocked at the time HU was removed, budding and cell division did not occur. These results were interpreted to indicate that HU prevents accumulation of the potential to initiate a new cell cycle.

Genetic control of the cell-division cycle in yeast. I. Detection of mutants

Time-lapse photomicroscopy has been utilized to detect temperature-sensitive yeast mutants that are defective in gene functions needed at specific stages of the cell-division cycle. This technique provides two types of information about a mutant: the time at which the defective gene function is normally performed, defined as the execution point, and the stage at which cells collect when the function is not performed, defined as the termination point. Mutants carrying lesions in three genes that control the cell-division cycle are described. All three genes, cdc-1, cdc-2, and cdc-3, execute early in the cell cycle at about the time of bud initiation, but differ in their termination points. Cells carrying the cdc-1 mutation terminate at the execution point, most cells ending up with a tiny bud that does not develop further. Cells carrying the cdc-2 mutation terminate at mitosis. Cells carrying the cdc-3 mutation are defective in cell separation but show no definite termination point since other processes of the cell cycle, such as bud initiation and nuclear division, continue despite the block in cell separation.