Diminishing Returns on Intragenic Repeat Number Expansion in the Production of Signaling Peptides.

ABSTRACT: Signaling peptides enable communication between cells, both within and between individuals, and are therefore key to the control of complex physiological and behavioral responses. Since their small sizes prevent direct transmission to secretory pathways, these peptides are often produced as part of a larger polyprotein comprising precursors for multiple related or identical peptides; the physiological and behavioral consequences of this unusual gene structure are not understood. Here, we show that the number of mature-pheromone-encoding repeats in the yeast α-mating-factor gene MFα1 varies considerably between closely related isolates of both Saccharomyces cerevisiae and its sister species Saccharomyces paradoxus. Variation in repeat number has important phenotypic consequences: Increasing

SUBMITTER: Rogers DW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5850478 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature