Support for the prion hypothesis for inheritance of a phenotypic trait in yeast.

A cytoplasmically inherited genetic element in yeast, [PSI+], was confirmed to be a prionlike aggregate of the cellular protein Sup35 by differential centrifugation analysis and microscopic localization of a Sup35-green fluorescent protein fusion. Aggregation depended on the intracellular concentration and functional state of the chaperone protein Hsp104 in the same manner as did [PSI+] inheritance. The amino-terminal and carboxy-terminal domains of Sup35 contributed to the unusual behavior of [PSI+]. [PSI+] altered the conformational state of newly synthesized prion proteins, inducing them to aggregate as well, thus fulfilling a major tenet of the prion hypothesis.