Cell fusion occurs throughout development, from fertilization to organogenesis. The molecular mechanisms driving plasma membrane fusion in these processes remain unknown. While yeast mating offers an excellent model system in which to study cell fusion, all genes previously shown to regulate the process act at or before cell wall breakdown; i.e., well before the two plasma membranes have come in contact. Using a new strategy in which genomic data is used to predict which genes may possess a given function, we identified PRM1, a gene that is selectively expressed during mating and that encodes a multispanning transmembrane protein. Prm1p localizes to sites of cell–cell contact where fusion occurs. In matings between Δprm1 mutants, a large fraction of cells initiate zygote formation and degrade the cell wall separating mating partners but then fail to fuse. Electron microscopic analysis reveals that the two plasma membranes in these mating pairs are tightly apposed, remaining separated only by a uniform gap of ∼8 nm. Thus, the phenotype of Δprm1 mutants defines a new step in the mating reaction in which membranes are juxtaposed, possibly through a defined adherence junction, yet remain unfused. This phenotype suggests a role for Prm1p in plasma membrane fusion.
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30 October 2000
Article|
October 30 2000
Prm1p, a Pheromone-Regulated Multispanning Membrane Protein, Facilitates Plasma Membrane Fusion during Yeast Mating
Maxwell G. Heiman,
Maxwell G. Heiman
aHoward Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143-0448
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Peter Walter
Peter Walter
aHoward Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143-0448
Search for other works by this author on:
Maxwell G. Heiman
aHoward Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143-0448
Peter Walter
aHoward Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143-0448
Abbreviations used in this paper: GFP, green fluorescent protein; HA, hemagglutinin; SNARE, soluble N-ethylmaleimide–sensitive factor attachment protein receptor; ORF, open reading frame; YPD, yeast extract/peptone/glucose.
Received:
July 31 2000
Revision Requested:
September 12 2000
Accepted:
September 12 2000
Online ISSN: 1540-8140
Print ISSN: 0021-9525
© 2000 The Rockefeller University Press
2000
The Rockefeller University Press
J Cell Biol (2000) 151 (3): 719–730.
Article history
Received:
July 31 2000
Revision Requested:
September 12 2000
Accepted:
September 12 2000
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Citation
Maxwell G. Heiman, Peter Walter; Prm1p, a Pheromone-Regulated Multispanning Membrane Protein, Facilitates Plasma Membrane Fusion during Yeast Mating. J Cell Biol 30 October 2000; 151 (3): 719–730. doi: https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.151.3.719
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