Tea3p is a cell end marker activating polarized growth in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

Abstract

Eukaryotic cells are often polarized in their cytoplasmic structures, and this can be important for their function. The fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe is a highly polarized cell that extends bipolarly along a single axis to generate a rod-shaped cell. It divides by medial fission to generate two equal-sized daughter cells that resume growth only at the old end. Once these cells have reached a particular length, they undergo NETO, new end take-off, whereby growth is activated at the other end to generate bipolarly extending cells. The activation and positioning of these growth zones are essential for maintaining growth in a straight line. Genetic analyses have identified many proteins involved in this process, like the cell end markers Tea1p and Pom1p and the kinases Orb2p/Shk1p/Pak1, Ssp1p, and Wee1p. Here, we describe tea3, a gene encoding a tea1-like protein with some similarities to ERM proteins. Tea3p is required for efficient NETO and for the proper placement of the septum. Like Pom1p, Tea3p localizes to cell ends, and its localization depends on microtubules and Tea1p. We propose that Tea3p is a novel cell end marker required specifically to activate polarized cell growth at the second end during NETO.