Exploratory polarization facilitates mating partner selection in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

ABSTRACT: 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, stabilizin

SUBMITTER: Clark-Cotton MR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8101489 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature