Molecular analysis of the REV2 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae--a review.

The REV2 gene controls DNA repair, induced mutagenesis and, probably, some fidelity mechanism of replication. Of particular interest is the notion that it is inducible by DNA-damaging agents. We wanted to find molecular evidence for these results derived from numerous biological experiments. We cloned the REV2 gene from a yeast genomic DNA library based on the YCp50 centromere vector, sequenced it and studied its regulation on the transcriptional level. The coding region of the REV2 gene consists of a 1425 pb reading frame with a coding capacity for a polypeptide of 52 kD; no significant homology to any gene filed in available data bases was found. Examination of a hydrophobicity plot of the putative Rev2 protein predicts the existence of transmembrane helices. Quantitative Northern analysis confirmed the working hypothesis that DNA-damaging agents increase the level of REV2 gene expression in stationary cells. Thus, the REV2 gene seems to code for a membrane protein which is inducible by DNA-damaging agents and which controls processes of repair and mutagenesis in yeast.