Functional conservation between Schizosaccharomyces pombe ste8 and Saccharomyces cerevisiae STE11 protein kinases in yeast signal transduction.

In fission yeast (Schizosaccharomyces pombe), the mat1-Pm gene, which is required for entry into meiosis, is expressed in response to a pheromone signal. Cells carrying a mutation in the ste8 gene are unable to induce transcription of mat1-Pm in response to pheromone, suggesting that the ste8 gene product functions in the signal transduction pathway. The ste8+ gene encodes a 659 amino acid putative protein kinase, which is identical to the previously identified byr2 suppressor of the ras1 defect. Furthermore, ste8+ is highly homologous to the Saccharomyces cerevisiae STE11 gene, which functions in signal transduction in budding yeast. Expression of the S. cerevisiae STE11 gene in S. pombe ste8 mutants restores the ability to transcribe mat1-Pm in response to pheromone. Also, such cells become capable of conjugation and sporulation. When mat1-Pm is artifically expressed from a heterologous promoter, ste8 mutant cells will enter meiosis. This demonstrates that the meiotic defect of ste8 mutants is due to the absence of the mat1-Pm gene product.