Isolation of Yeast DNA Replication Mutants in Permeabilized Cells

A random population of temperature-sensitive mutants was screened by assaying for defects in DNA synthesis in a permeabilized yeast DNA replication system. Twenty mutants defective in in vitro DNA synthesis have been isolated. In this paper we describe eight of these mutants. Seven of them fall into three complementation groups--cdc2, cdc8, and cdc16--involved in the control of the cell-division cycle. Because synthesis in vitro represents propagation of replication forks active in vivo at the time of permeabilization, our finding that cdc2 and cdc16 mutants can incorporate dTMP into DNA in such permeabilized cells at 23 degrees C but not at 37 degrees C supports the conclusion that these two mutations directly affect DNA synthesis at replication forks. Such an involvement was previously suggested by in vivo analysis for CDC2 but was less clear for CDC16. Finally, the usefulness of our screening procedure is demonstrated by the isolation of replication mutants in previously undescribed complementation groups. One strain shows a serious defect in in vivo DNA synthesis but normal RNA synthesis.