Characterization of two new genes essential for vegetative growth in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: nucleotide sequence determination and chromosome mapping.

Based on nucleotide sequence determination, we have identified two new yeast genes FUN80 and FUN81 located on chromosome XIII. They are both essential for cellular growth but their function is still unknown. FUN80 is closely linked to the ARGRI (or ARG80) gene while FUN81 is located next to the ARGRII (or ARG81) gene. Interestingly, the proteins encoded by these two genes have a long stretch of acidic amino acids within their C-terminal portions.