Handling Editor: John Heath
ABSTRACT
In Schizosaccharomyces pombe, a general strategy for survival in response to environmental changes is sexual differentiation, which is triggered by TORC1 inactivation. However, mechanisms of TORC1 regulation in fission yeast remain poorly understood. In this study, we found that Pef1, which is an ortholog of mammalian CDK5, regulates the initiation of sexual differentiation through positive regulation of TORC1 activity. Conversely, deletion of pef1 leads to activation of autophagy and subsequent excessive TORC1 reactivation during the early phases of the nitrogen starvation response. This excessive TORC1 reactivation results in the silencing of the Ste11-Mei2 pathway and mating defects. Additionally, we found that pef1 genetically interacts with tsc1 and tsc2 for TORC1 regulation, and physically interacts with three cyclins, Clg1, Pas1 and Psl1. The double deletion of clg1 and pas1 promotes activation of autophagy and TORC1 during nitrogen starvation, similar to what is seen in pef1Δ cells. Overall, our work suggests that Pef1–Clg1 and Pef1–Pas1 complexes regulate initiation of sexual differentiation through control of the TSC–TORC1 pathway and autophagy.
Footnotes
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing or financial interests.
Author contributions
Conceptualization: S.M., A.N.; Methodology: S.M., H.U., A.N.; Software: S.M., U.K., A.N.; Validation: S.M., U.K., H.U., A.N.; Formal analysis: S.M., H.U.; Investigation: S.M., H.U.; Resources: S.M., U.K., H.U., A.N.; Data curation: S.M., H.U.; Writing - original draft: S.M.; Writing - review & editing: U.K., A.N.; Visualization: S.M.; Supervision: U.K., A.N.; Project administration: S.M., A.N.; Funding acquisition: S.M., U.K., A.N.
Funding
This study was supported in part by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI grant numbers 19K15751 (S.M.) and 26440053 (A.N.).
Supplementary information
Supplementary information available online at https://jcs.biologists.org/lookup/doi/10.1242/jcs.247817.supplemental
- Received April 23, 2020.
- Accepted July 20, 2020.
- © 2020. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd
Log in using your username and password
Log in through your institution
Pay Per Article - You may access this article (from the computer you are currently using) for 1 day for US$30.00 .
Regain Access - You can regain access to a recent Pay per Article purchase if your access period has not yet expired.
Article navigation
Related articles
Cited by...
More in this TOC section
Similar articles
Subject collections
Other journals from The Company of Biologists
2020 at The Company of Biologists
Despite the challenges of 2020, we were able to bring a number of long-term projects and new ventures to fruition. While we look forward to a new year, join us as we reflect on the triumphs of the last 12 months.
Mole – The Corona Files
"This is not going to go away, 'like a miracle.' We have to do magic. And I know we can."
Mole continues to offer his wise words to researchers on how to manage during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cell scientist to watch – Christine Faulkner
In an interview, Christine Faulkner talks about where her interest in plant science began, how she found the transition between Australia and the UK, and shares her thoughts on virtual conferences.
Read & Publish participation extends worldwide
“The clear advantages are rapid and efficient exposure and easy access to my article around the world. I believe it is great to have this publishing option in fast-growing fields in biomedical research.”
Dr Jaceques Behmoaras (Imperial College London) shares his experience of publishing Open Access as part of our growing Read & Publish initiative. We now have over 60 institutions in 12 countries taking part – find out more and view our full list of participating institutions.
JCS and COVID-19
For more information on measures Journal of Cell Science is taking to support the community during the COVID-19 pandemic, please see here.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hestiate to contact the Editorial Office.