Gene sam1 encoding adenosylmethionine synthetase: effects of its expression in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe

By screening gene libraries of Schizosaccharomyces pombe with a DNA fragment encoding part of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae S‐adenosylmethionine synthetase (SAMS), we isolated the fission yeast sam1 gene. Its sequence exhibits good homology to SAMSs of other organisms and reveals the motifs characteristic for SAMSs. SAMS activity and sam1 mRNA levels decrease when cells enter stationary phase. In haploid strains, gene sam1 is essential for growth; if weakly expressed, cells mate and sporulate at a reduced rate. Strains overexpressing sam1 exhibit methionine‐sensitive growth. This methionine‐induced growth inhibition is partially relieved by adenine. We assume that methionine reduces the level of one or several adenine nucleotides by a SAMS‐mediated mechanism. Intracellular SAM levels increase drastically by exogenously added methionine. This increase predicts that mutants exhibiting methionine revertible phenotypes can be indicative for mutations in proteins exhibiting SAM‐dependent functions. In agreement with this prediction, we show that mutant pmt2–5 has this phenotype and that gene pmt2 encodes a potential SAM‐dependent enzyme. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.