Genetics of yeast glucokinase.

Mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae lacking glucokinase (EC 2.7.1.2) have no discernible phenotypic difference from the wild-type strain; in a hexokinaseless background, however, they are unable to grow on any sugar except galactose. Reversion studies with glucokinase mutants indicate that the yeast S. cerevisiae has no other enzyme for phosphorylating glucose except the two hexokinases, P1 and P2, and glucokinase. Spontaneous revertants of hxk1 hxk2 glk1 strains collected on glucose regain any one of these three enzymes. The majority of glucokinase revertants synthesize species of enzyme activity that are kinetically or otherwise indistinguishable from the wild-type enzyme. In a few cases the reverted enzyme is very perceptibly altered in properties with a Km for glucose two orders of magnitude higher than that of the enzyme from the wild-type parent. These recessive, noncomplementing mutants, thus, define a single structural gene GLK1 of glucokinase. Yeast diploids lacking all of the three enzymes for glucose phosphorylation fail to sporulate. Heterozygosity of either of the hexokinase genes HXK1 or HXK2, but not GLK1, restores sporulation. The location of GLK1 on chromosome III was indicated by loss of this chromosome when hexokinaseless diploids heterozygous for glk1 were selected for resistance to 2-deoxyglucose; the homologue of chromosome III carrying GLK1, the mating-type allele and other nutritional markers on this chromosome was lost. Meiotic mapping of glucokinase executed with heterozygosity of one of the hexokinases indicated that the gene GLK1 defining the structure of glucokinase protein is located on the left arm of chromosome III 24 cM to the left of his4 in the order: leu2--his4--glk1. --Only two of 206 independent glucokinase mutants are nonsense ochre, both of which map at one end of the gene. In hxk1 only one of 130 isolates is a nonsense mutation, whereas in hxk2 none has been found among 220 independent mutants. These results raise the possibility that the protein products of these genes have some other essential function. --An earlier mapping result for hxk2 has been corrected. The new location is on the left arm of chromosome VII, 17 cM distal to ade5 in the order: lys5--ade5--hxk2.