A genome-wide screen identifies genes required for formation of the wobble nucleoside 5-methoxycarbonylmethyl-2-thiouridine in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

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Abstract
We recently showed that the γ-subunit of Kluyveromyces lactis killer toxin (γ-toxin) is a tRNA endonuclease that cleaves , , and 3′ of the wobble nucleoside 5-methoxycarbonylmethyl-2-thiouridine (mcm5s2U). The 5-methoxycarbonylmethyl (mcm5) side chain was important for efficient cleavage by γ-toxin, and defects in mcm5 side-chain synthesis correlated with resistance to γ-toxin. Based on this correlation, a genome-wide screen was performed to identify gene products involved in the formation of the mcm5 side chain. From a collection of 4826 homozygous diploid Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains, each with one nonessential gene deleted, 63 mutants resistant to Kluyveromyces lactis killer toxin were identified. Among these, eight were earlier identified to have a defect in formation of the mcm5 side chain. Analysis of the remaining mutants and other known γ-toxin resistant mutants revealed that sit4, kti14, and KTI5 mutants also have a defect in the formation of mcm5. A mutant lacking two of the Sit4-associated proteins, Sap185 and Sap190, displays the same modification defect as a sit4-null mutant. Interestingly, several mutants were found to be defective in the synthesis of the 2-thio (s2) group of the mcm5s2U nucleoside. In addition to earlier described mutants, formation of the s2 group was also abolished in urm1, uba4, and ncs2 mutants and decreased in the yor251c mutant. Like the absence of the mcm5 side chain, the lack of the s2 group renders less sensitive to γ-toxin, reinforcing the importance of the wobble nucleoside mcm5s2U for tRNA cleavage by γ-toxin.