Yeast BUD5, encoding a putative GDP-GTP exchange factor, is necessary for bud site selection and interacts with bud formation gene BEM1.

Cells of the yeast S. cerevisiae choose bud sites in an axial or bipolar spatial pattern depending on their cell type. We have identified a gene, BUD5, that resembles BUD1 and BUD2 in being required for both patterns; bud5- mutants also exhibit random budding in all cell types. The BUD5 nucleotide sequence predicts a protein of 538 amino acids that has similarity to the S. cerevisiae CDC25 product, an activator of RAS proteins that catalyzes GDP-GTP exchange. Two potential targets of BUD5 are known: BUD1 (RSR1) and CDC42, proteins involved in bud site selection and bud formation, respectively, that have extensive similarity to RAS. We also show that BUD5 interacts functionally with a gene, BEM1, that is required for bud formation. This interaction provides further support for the view that products involved in bud site selection guide the positioning of a complex necessary for bud formation.