Molecular and Cellular Dissection of Mating-Type Switching Steps in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

Abstract

ABSTRACT A strand-specific imprint (break) controls mating-type switching in fission yeast. By introducing a thiamine repressible promoter upstream of the mat1 locus, we can force transcription through the imprinted region, erasing the imprint and inhibiting further mating-type switching, in a reversible manner. Starting from a synchronized, virgin M-cell population, we show that the site- and strand-specific break is formed when DNA replication intermediates appear at mat1 during the first S phase. The formation of the break is concomitant with a replication fork pause and binding of the Swi1 protein at mat1 until early G 2 and then rapidly disappears. Upon its formation, the break remains stable throughout the cell cycle and triggers mating-type switching during the second S phase. Finally, we have recreated the mating-type switching pedigree at the molecular and single-cell levels, allowing for the first time separation between the establishment of imprinting and its developmental fate.