Mitotic DNA damage and replication checkpoints in yeast

Abstract

Studies of the genetics of G2/M checkpoints in budding and fission yeasts have produced many of the defining concepts of checkpoint biology. Recent progress in the biochemistry of the checkpoint gene products is adding a mechanistic understanding to our models and identifying the components of the normal cell cycle machinery that are targeted by checkpoints.

Figure 1

Models of checkpoint control in (a) S. pombe and (b) S. cerevisiae. These models of the checkpoint regulatory pathways represent the interpretation of a variety of genetic, molecular and biochemical data. The proximity of protein names to each other does not necessarily imply a physical interaction. (a) The position of Cut5^sp in two places reflects an uncertainty about its exact role. (b) The question marks represent an unknown target of the Rad53^sc/Dun1^sc pathway. It is unknown if this target is independent of the role of Dun1^sc in transcriptional induction.