cps1+, a Schizosaccharomyces pombe gene homolog of Saccharomyces cerevisiae FKS genes whose mutation confers hypersensitivity to cyclosporin A and papulacandin B.

The Schizosaccharomyces pombe cps1-12 (for chlorpropham supersensitive) mutant strain was originally isolated as hypersensitive to the spindle poison isopropyl N-3-chlorophenyl carbamate (chlorpropham) (J. Ishiguro and Y. Uhara, Jpn. J. Genet. 67:97-109, 1992). We have found that the cps1-12 mutation also confers (i) hypersensitivity to the immunosuppressant cyclosporin A (CsA), (ii) hypersensitivity to the drug papulacandin B, which specifically inhibits 1,3-beta-D-glucan synthesis both in vivo and in vitro, and (iii) thermosensitive growth at 37 degrees C. Under any of these restrictive treatments, cells swell up and finally lyse. With an osmotic stabilizer, cells do not lyse, but at 37 degrees C they become multiseptated and multibranched. The cps1-12 mutant, grown at a restrictive temperature, showed an increase in sensitivity to lysis by enzymatic cell wall degradation, in in vitro 1,3-beta-D-glucan synthase activity (173% in the absence of GTP in the reaction), and in cell wall biosynthesis (130% of the wild-type amount). Addition of Ca2+ suppresses hypersensitivity to papulacandin B and septation and branching phenotypes. All of these data suggest a relationship between the cps1+ gene and cell wall synthesis. A DNA fragment containing the cps1+ gene was cloned, and sequence analysis indicated that it encodes a predicted membrane protein of 1,729 amino acids with 15 to 16 transmembrane domains. S. pombe cps1p has overall 55% sequence identity with Fks1p or Fks2p, proposed to be catalytic or associated subunits of Saccharomyces cerevisiae 1,3-beta-D-glucan synthase. Thus, the cps1+ product might be a catalytic or an associated copurifying subunit of the fission yeast 1,3-beta-D-glucan synthase that plays an essential role in cell wall synthesis.