An MBoC favorite: mitochondrial transmission during mating in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is determined by mitochondrial fusion and fission and the intramitochondrial segregation of mitochondrial DNA.
An MBoC favorite: mitochondrial transmission during mating in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is determined by mitochondrial fusion and fission and the intramitochondrial segregation of mitochondrial DNA.
Project description:The division of mitochondrial membranes is a complex process mediated by the dynamin-related protein Dnm1 in yeast, acting in concert with several cofactors. We have identified Mdm36 as a mitochondria-associated protein required for efficient mitochondrial division. Deltamdm36 mutants contain highly interconnected mitochondrial networks that strikingly resemble known fission mutants. Furthermore, mitochondrial fission induced by depolymerization of the actin cytoskeleton is blocked in Deltamdm36 mutants, and the number of Dnm1 clusters on mitochondrial tips is reduced. Double mutant analyses indicate that Mdm36 acts antagonistically to fusion-promoting components, such as Fzo1 and Mdm30. The cell cortex-associated protein Num1 was shown previously to interact with Dnm1 and promote mitochondrial fission. We observed that mitochondria are highly motile and that their localization is not restricted to the cell periphery in Deltamdm36 and Deltanum1 mutants. Intriguingly, colocalization of Num1 and Dnm1 is abolished in the absence of Mdm36. These data suggest that Mdm36 is required for mitochondrial division by facilitating the formation of protein complexes containing Dnm1 and Num1 at the cell cortex. We propose a model that Mdm36-dependent formation of cell cortex anchors is required for the generation of tension on mitochondrial membranes to promote mitochondrial fission by Dnm1.
Project description:Haploid cells of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae communicate using secreted pheromones and mate to form diploid zygotes. Mating is monogamous, resulting in the fusion of precisely one cell of each mating type. Monogamous mating in crowded conditions, where cells have access to more than one potential partner, raises the question of how multiple-mating outcomes are prevented. Here we identify mutants capable of mating with multiple partners, revealing the mechanisms that ensure monogamous mating. Before fusion, cells develop polarity foci oriented toward potential partners. Competition between these polarity foci within each cell leads to disassembly of all but one focus, thus favoring a single fusion event. Fusion promotes the formation of heterodimeric complexes between subunits that are uniquely expressed in each mating type. One complex shuts off haploid-specific gene expression, and the other shuts off the ability to respond to pheromone. Zygotes able to form either complex remain monogamous, but zygotes lacking both can re-mate.
Project description:Yeast decode pheromone gradients to locate mating partners, providing a model for chemotropism. How yeast polarize toward a single partner in crowded environments is unclear. Initially, cells often polarize in unproductive directions, but then they relocate the polarity site until two partners' polarity sites align, whereupon the cells "commit" to each other by stabilizing polarity to promote fusion. Here we address the role of the early mobile polarity sites. We found that commitment by either partner failed if just one partner was defective in generating, orienting, or stabilizing its mobile polarity sites. Mobile polarity sites were enriched for pheromone receptors and G proteins, and we suggest that such sites engage in an exploratory search of the local pheromone landscape, stabilizing only when they detect elevated pheromone levels. Mobile polarity sites were also enriched for pheromone secretion factors, and simulations suggest that only focal secretion at polarity sites would produce high pheromone concentrations at the partner's polarity site, triggering commitment.
Project description:Fission 1 (Fis1) is an evolutionarily conserved, type II integral membrane protein implicated in maintaining the proper morphology of mitochondria and peroxisomes. A concave surface on the cytosolic domain of Fis1 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae is implicated in binding other fission proteins, yet structural studies reveal that this surface is sterically occluded by its N-terminal arm. Here we address the question of whether the N-terminal arm of yeast Fis1 exists in a dynamic equilibrium that would allow access to this functionally important surface. NMR measurements sensitive to dynamics occurring on a wide range of time scales (picoseconds to minutes) were used to assess whether the Fis1 arm is dynamic. Hydrogen-deuterium exchange experiments revealed that the Fis1 arm, alpha-helix 6, and proximal loops were not protected from solvent exchange, consistent with motions on the second to minute time scale. An engineered cysteine, I85C, located on the concave surface that lies underneath the Fis1 arm, was readily modified by a fluorescent probe, revealing more solvent accessibility of this position than would be predicted from the structure. Chemical denaturation, NMR chemical shift perturbation, and residual dipolar coupling experiments support the idea that the dynamic equilibrium can be shifted on the basis of changing pH and temperature, with the changes primarily localizing to the Fis1 arm and proximal regions. The data as a whole are consistent with the Fis1 arm adopting a primarily "closed" conformational state able to undergo dynamic excursions that reveal the concave surface and therefore may be important for binding other fission factors and for Fis1 function.