A single essential gene, PRI2, encodes the large subunit of DNA primase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

DNA primase activity of the yeast DNA polymerase-primase complex is related to two polypeptides, p58 and p48. The reciprocal role of these protein species has not yet been clarified, although both participate in formation of the active center of the enzyme. The gene encoding the p58 subunit has been cloned by screening of a lambda gt11 yeast genomic DNA library, using specific anti-p58 antiserum. Antibodies that inhibited DNA primase activity could be purified by lysates of Escherichia coli cells infected with a recombinant bacteriophage containing the entire gene, which we designate PR12. The gene was found to be transcribed in a 1.7-kilobase mRNA whose level appeared to fluctuate during the mitotic cell cycle. Nucleotide sequence determination indicated that PR12 encodes a 528-amino-acid polypeptide with a calculated molecular weight of 62,262. The gene is unique in the haploid yeast genome, and its product is essential for cell viability, as has been shown for other components of the yeast DNA polymerase-primase complex.