Cycloheximide resistance in yeast: The gene and its portein

Abstract

Mutations in the yeast gene CYH2 can lead to resistance to cycloheximide, an inhibitor of eukaryotic protein synthesis. The gene product of CYH2 is ribosomal protein L29, a component of tfie 60S ribosomal subunit. We have cloned the wild-type and resistance alleles of CYH2 and determined their nucleotide sequence. Transcription of CYH2 appears to initiate and terminate at multiple sites, as judged by SI nucleose analysis. The gene is transcribed into an RNA molecule of about 1062 nucleotides, containing an intervening sequence of 510 nucleotides. The splice [unction of the intron resides within a codon near the 5' end of the gene. In confirmation of peptide analysis by Stockleinλt J. (1) we find that resistance to cycloheximide is due to a transversion mutation resulting in the replacement of a glutamine byglutamic acid in position 37 of L29. © 1983 IRL Press Limited.