IRA1, an inhibitory regulator of the RAS-cyclic AMP pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

A mutation in the gene IRA1 (formerly called PPD1) was originally characterized as a deficiency of a phosphoprotein phosphatase. The IRA1 gene has been cloned and sequenced. A large open reading frame (8,817 base pairs) which can encode a protein of 2,938 amino acids was found. Northern (RNA) blot analysis detected a message of about 10 kilobases, and nuclease S1 protection demonstrated mRNA start points at 97 and 98 base pairs upstream from the putative initiator ATG codon. Disruption of the IRA1 gene resulted in sensitivity to nitrogen starvation and heat shock. Diploids homozygous for the disrupted IRA1 gene were deficient in sporulation. Disruption of the IRA1 gene suppressed the lethality of the cdc25 mutation but did not suppress the lethality of either the ras1 ras2 or the cyr1 mutations. Deficiency of the phosphoprotein phosphatase was not reproducible in the disruption mutant of the IRA1 gene. Moreover, the ira1 mutant showed an increased level of cyclic AMP. Our results suggest that the IRA1 protein inhibits the function of the RAS proteins in a fashion antagonistic to the function of the CDC25 protein in the RAS-cyclic AMP pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.