Accumulation of mRNA Coding for the Ctf13p Kinetochore Subunit of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Depends on the Same Factors That Promote Rapid Decay of Nonsense mRNAs

Corresponding author: Michael R. Culbertson, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 413 R.M. Bock Laboratories, 1525 Linden Dr., Madison, WI 53706-1596., mrculber{at}facstaff.wisc.edu (E-mail).

Communicating editor: E. W. JONES

The CTF13 gene codes for a subunit of the kinetochore in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The temperature-sensitive mutation ctf13-30, which confers reduced fidelity of chromosome transmission, is a G A transition causing an amino acid substitution of Lys for Glu₁₄₆. Strains carrying one chromosomal copy of ctf13-30 fail to grow at the restrictive temperature, whereas a haploid strain carrying two copies of ctf13-30 can grow. Four genes, UPF1, UPF2, UPF3, and ICK1, were represented among extragenic suppressors of ctf13-30. The UPF genes encode proteins that promote rapid decay of pre-mRNAs and mRNAs containing a premature stop codon. Suppressor mutations in these genes restore kinetochore function by causing increased accumulation of ctf13-30 mRNA. They also cause increased accumulation of CYH2 pre-mRNA, which is a natural target of UPF-mediated decay. Mutations in ICK1 restore kinetochore function but have no effect on ctf13-30 mRNA or CYH2 pre-mRNA accumulation. Most importantly, loss of UPF1 function causes increased accumulation of wild-type CTF13 mRNA but has no effect on the mRNA half-life. We propose that UPF-mediated decay modulates the mRNA level of one or more factors involved in CTF13 mRNA expression.

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