Characterization of a gene similar to BIK1 in the yeast Kluyveromyces lactis

Abstract

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Bik1p is a microtubule plus-end-tracking protein that plays several roles in mitosis and ploidy. KIBik1p (from Kluyveromyces lactis) maintains the same structural-domain organization as does S. cerevisiae Bik1p. As part of its characterization, we constructed a stable klbik1 mutant which is sensitive to benomyl only at 14 degreesC and has a higher frequency of crescent-shaped nuclei than S. cerevisiae NO mutants. This phenotype is partially rescued by S. cerevisiae BIK1. Other phenotypes associated with bik1 are not present in the K. lactis mutant. By fusion to GFP we were able to show the functionality of the KIBik1p CAP-Gly domain and found that the fusion protein changes its cellular location during the cell cycle. Copyright (C) 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.