Cytoophidia Influence Cell Cycle and Size in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Jan 3;25(1):608. doi: 10.3390/ijms25010608.

Abstract

Cytidine triphosphate synthase (CTPS) forms cytoophidia in all three domains of life. Here we focus on the function of cytoophidia in cell proliferation using Schizosaccharomyces pombe as a model system. We find that converting His359 of CTPS into Ala359 leads to cytoophidium disassembly. By reducing the level of CTPS protein or specific mutation, the loss of cytoophidia prolongs the G2 phase and expands cell size. In addition, the loss-filament mutant of CTPS leads to a decrease in the expression of genes related to G2/M transition and cell growth, including histone chaperone slm9. The overexpression of slm9 alleviates the G2 phase elongation and cell size enlargement induced by CTPS loss-filament mutants. Overall, our results connect cytoophidia with cell cycle and cell size control in Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

Keywords: CTP synthase; G2 phase; Schizosaccharomyces pombe; cell cycle; cell size; cytoophidium; slm9.

MeSH terms

  • Cell Cycle / genetics
  • Cell Division
  • Cell Proliferation
  • G2 Phase
  • Schizosaccharomyces* / genetics