Open AccessThe Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene ECM11 is a positive effector of meiosis
Author(s) -
Zavec Apolonija Bedina,
Lešnik Urška,
Komel Radovan,
Comino Aleksandra
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1016/j.femsle.2004.10.020
Subject(s) - meiosis , biology , saccharomyces cerevisiae , homologous recombination , tetrad , genetics , chromosome segregation , gene , mutant , genetic recombination , chromosome , chromosomal crossover , ploidy , dna , dna replication , mlh1 , homologous chromosome , dna repair , recombination , dna mismatch repair
Ecm11 is classified as a protein involved in yeast cell wall biogenesis and organization, but in this paper, we provide evidence that it is involved in meiosis as well. Mutants with deleted ECM11 exhibit complex defects in meiosis: replication, recombination and chromosome segregation are affected. The ecm11 Δ diploid strains sporulate more slowly and less efficiently than parental strains with wild type copies of ECM11 . Fluorescence activated cell sorter scans of DNA content during sporulation showed that meiotic DNA synthesis is initiated at the same time in parental and ecm11 Δ strains, but is less efficient in the knockout strain. By recombination tests, we demonstrated that ECM11 is required for crossing‐over, but not for gene conversion. In the absence of ECM11 gene product, viability of spores is reduced to 50% and predominantly two viable spores per tetrad are formed. Our results suggest that ECM11 is required in early stages of meiosis where its function is related to DNA replication and crossing‐over.