Article,
TOR and PKA Pathways Synergize at the Level of the Ste11 Transcription Factor to Prevent Mating and Meiosis in Fission Yeast
PLoS ONE, 5 (7): e11514+ (Jul 9, 2010)
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0011514
Abstract
In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe , the TOR (target of rapamycin) and PKA (protein kinase A) signaling transduction pathways regulate the expression of genes required for cell growth and sexual differentiation in response to the nutritional environment. Inhibition of Tor2 signaling results in the induction of genes involved in sexual differentiation, and the cells undergo mating and meiosis, even under good nutritional conditions. The same phenotype is observed in mutants in which the PKA pathway is inactive. By contrast, Tor2 overexpression or mutations that hyperactivate PKA signaling impair sexual differentiation, even under poor nutritional conditions. Accordingly, a very important question is to understand the molecular mechanism by which these two pathways coordinately regulate gene expression in response to nutrients.
