Isolation and characterization of Schizosaccharomyces pombe mutants phenotypically similar to ras1-.

We isolated mutants of Schizosaccharomyces pombe which have deformed cell morphology, are deficient in conjugation and poor in sporulation. This phenotype is characteristic of the ras1 defective mutant previously identified. Tests of the mutants for allelism using cell fusion showed that they define five complementation groups, one of which is ras1 itself. The others are named ral1 through ral4 (ras like). Mutants in ral3 or ral4 conjugate at a very low frequency, while the others apparently do not conjugate at all. Plasmid clones complementing ral1, ral2 or ral3, which apparently carry the respective gene, were isolated from S. pombe genomic libraries. Multiple copies of either the ral2 or the ral3 gene could partially restore mating ability in ral1- strains. Multiple copies of the ras1 gene could partially restore mating ability in ral1- and ral2- strains. These results suggest that the ral1, ral2 and ras1 genes may function in a common pathway in that order. The ral3 gene may influence this pathway. Analysis of these gene products will aid identification of factors which interact with Ras proteins.