Pheromone response in yeast

Abstract

In response to peptide pheromones, yeast cells prepare themselves for mating; changes include arrest of the cell cycle and induction of transcription. Proteins involved in this signal transduction pathway include the pheromone receptors, subunits of a G protein, protein kinases and DNA-binding proteins. Understanding of this pathway has been facilitated by yeast genetics, which has allowed the genes encoding all of these proteins to be identified and characterized.