Switching of a Mating-Type a Mutant Allele in Budding Yeast SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE

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Aimed at investigating the recovery of a specific mutant allele of the mating type locus (MAT) by switching a defective MAT allele, these experiments provide information bearing on several models proposed for MAT interconversion in bakers yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Hybrids between heterothallic (ho) cells carrying a mutant MATa allele, designated mata-2, and MATα ho strains show a high capacity for mating with MATa strains. The MATα/mata-2 diploids do not sporulate. However, zygotic clones obtained by mating MATα homothallic (HO) cells with mata-2 ho cells are unable to mate and can sporulate. Tetrad analysis of such clones revealed two diploid (MATα/MATa):two haploid segregants. Therefore, MAT switches occur in MATα/mata-2 HO/ho cells to produce MATα/MATa cells capable of sporulation. In heterothallic strains, the mata-2 allele can be switched to a functional MATα and subsequently to a functional MATa. Among 32 MATα to MATa switches tested, where the MATα was previously derived from the mata-2 mutant, only one mata-2 like isolate was observed. However, the recovered allele, unlike the parental allele, conplements the matα ste1–5 mutant, suggesting that these alleles are not identical and that the recovered allele presumably arose as a mutation of the MATα locus. No mata-2 was recovered by HO-mediated switching of MATα (previously obtained from mata-2 by HO) in 217 switches analyzed. We conclude that in homothallic and heterothallic strains, the mata-2 allele can be readily switched to a functional MATα and subsequently to a functional MATa locus. Overall, the results are in accord with the cassette model (Hicks, Strathern and Herskowitz 1977b) proposed to explain MAT interconversions.

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