Isolation of a novel gene, moc2, encoding a putative RNA helicase as a suppressor of sterile strains in Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

A novel gene designated moc2, which encodes a putative RNA helicase, was isolated from Schizosaccharomyces pombe on the basis of its suppression of the sterility of two different mutant strains, one of which had elevated levels of cAMP and the other deregulated Ras functioning as a result of an ectopic expression of dominant negative RAS2. Moc2 is highly homologous to the RNA helicase DED1 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (58% identity) and PL10 of mouse (50% identity). Disruption of the moc2 gene indicated that moc2 is essential for cell growth. The moc2 gene seems to have roles in both sexual differentiation and cell growth.