Fine structure of the URA2 locus in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Abstract

The URA2 locus codes for a multifunctional enzyme complex carrying aspartate transcarbamylase (ATCase) and carbamyl phosphate synthetase (CPSase) activities. Three different types of ura2 mutants were tested in meiotic and mitotic recombination experiments: ura2A mutants devoid of ATCase activity, ura2C mutants devoid of CPSase activity and ura2B mutants devoid of both activities. All the ura2C mutations were found to be clustered at one end of the URA2 locus, called zone A, while the ura2C mutations were localized in a region at the other end, called zone C. All but two ura2B mutations (most of them suppressible) were distributed throughout zone C; the two ura2B exceptions which are small deletions, mapped in zone A. On the meiotic as well as on the mitotic map an intermediary or dead-space zone is located between zones A and C. No mutation has yet been found to map in this zone. The relative lengths of the three zones A, intermediary and C are 1:2–3:3–4, respectively. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that the URA2 locus consisting of at least two cistrons: C (CPSase) and A (ATCase), is transcribed into a single polycistronic message in the direction C to A. However, alternative hypotheses in reference to Peterson and MacLaughlin's observations (1973) are discussed.