Elements of the Yeast Pheromone Response Pathway Required for Filamentous Growth of Diploids

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Transmission of an external signal from receptors to downstream targets is often mediated by a conserved set of protein kinases that act in sequence (a kinase cascade). In haploid strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a signal initiated by peptide pheromones is transmitted through this kinase cascade to a transcription factor STE12, which is required for the expression of many mating-specific genes. Here it was shown that in diploids some of the same kinases and STE12 are required for filamentous growth, but the pheromone receptors and guanosine triphosphate-binding protein are not required for filament formation. Thus, a similar kinase cascade is activated by different signals in haploids and diploids and mediates different developmental outcomes in the two cell types.