Identification of Myo3, a second type-II myosin heavy chain in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe

• Published in: FEBS letters 1997-12, Vol.420 (2), p.161-166
• Main Authors: Motegi, Fumio, Nakano, Kentaro, Kitayama, Chikako, Yamamoto, Masayuki, Mabuchi, Issei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Actins - metabolism; Amino Acid Sequence; Bacterial Proteins - metabolism; Blotting, Southern; Bodipy, 4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene; Carrier Proteins - genetics; Carrier Proteins - metabolism; Cell Division - physiology; Cell Nucleus; Cloning, Molecular; Cytokinesis; DAPI, 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole; F-actin ring; Fission yeast; Fluorescent Dyes - metabolism; Fungal Proteins - chemistry; Fungal Proteins - metabolism; Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal - genetics; Microscopy, Fluorescence; Molecular Sequence Data; Myosin heavy chain; Myosin Heavy Chains - chemistry; Myosin Heavy Chains - metabolism; Myosin Type II; Myosin Type V; Myosins - chemistry; Myosins - metabolism; Phenotype; Restriction Mapping; Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; Schizosaccharomyces - chemistry; Schizosaccharomyces - genetics; Schizosaccharomyces pombe Proteins; Septation; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Tropomyosin - metabolism
• ISSN: 0014-5793; 1873-3468
• DOI: 10.1016/S0014-5793(97)01510-X

We cloned the myo3 + gene of Schizosaccharomyces pombe which encodes a type-II myosin heavy chain. myo3 null cells showed a defect in cytokinesis under certain conditions. Overproduction of Myo3 also showed a defect in cytokinesis. Double mutant analysis indicated that Myo3 genetically interacts with Cdc8 tropomyosin and actin. Myo3 may be implicated in cytokinesis and stabilization of F-actin cables. Moreover, the function of Myo2 can be replaced by overexpressed Myo3. We observed a modest synthetic interaction between Myo2 and Myo3. Thus, Myo2 and Myo3 seem to cooperate in the formation of the F-actin ring in S. pombe.