Differential abundance and transcription of 14-3-3 proteins during vegetative growth and sexual reproduction in budding yeast

Abstract

14-3-3 is a family of relatively low molecular weight, acidic, dimeric proteins, conserved from yeast to metazoans including humans. Apart from their role in diverse cellular processes, these proteins are also known for their role in several clinical implications. Present proteomic and biochemical comparison showed increased abundance and differential phosphorylation of these proteins in meiotic cells. Double deletion of bmh1 -/- bmh2 -/- leads to complete absence of sporulation with cells arrested at G1/S phase while further incubation of cells in sporulating media leads to cell death. In silico analysis showed the presence of 14-3-3 interacting motifs in bonafide members of kinetochore complex (KC) and spindle pole body (SPB), while present cell biological data pointed towards the possible role of yeast Bmh1/2 in regulating the behaviour of KC and SPB. We further showed the involvement of 14-3-3 in segregation of genetic material and expression of human 14-3-3β/α was able to complement the function of endogenous 14-3-3 protein even in the complex cellular process like meiosis. Our present data also established haplosufficient nature of BMH1/2. We further showed that proteins synthesized during mitotic growth enter meiotic cells without de novo synthesis except for meiotic-specific proteins required for induction and meiotic progression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.