Abstract

In all eukaryotic organisms, a wide range of morphologies are responsible for critical cellular function and development. In particular, the Rho GTPases, which are highly conserved from yeast to mammals, are key molecules in signaling pathways that control cell polarity processes and cell wall biosynthesis, which are fundamental aspects of morphogenesis. Therefore, using haploinsufficiency deletion mutants of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, we screened the slow-growing mutants and their morphogenesis, specifically focusing on regulation of their Rho GTPases. Based on this screening, we found that the cwf14 mutant of S. pombe exhibited the slow growth and abnormal phenotypes with an elongated cell shape and thicker cell wall when compared with wild-type cells. In particular, cells with the cwf14 deletion showed excessive Rho1 expression. However, the wildtype strain with ectopically expressed Rho1 did not exhibited any significant change in the level of cwf14, suggesting that cwf14 may act on the upstream of Rho1. Furthermore, the cells with a cwf14 deletion also have increased sensitivity to β-glucanase, a cell wall-digesting enzyme, which is also seen in Rho1-overexpressing cells. Overall, our results suggest that the cwf14 plays a key role in fission yeast morphogenesis and cell wall biosynthesis and/or degradation possibly via the regulation of Rho1 expression.

• Keywords: fission yeast; Rho GTPases; cwf14; β-glucanase