RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 The asymmetric chemical structures of two mating pheromones reflect their differential roles in conjugation of Schizosaccharomyces pombe JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 548586 DO 10.1101/548586 A1 Taisuke Seike A1 Hiromi Maekawa A1 Taro Nakamura A1 Chikashi Shimoda YR 2019 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/02/13/548586.abstract AB In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the mating reaction is controlled by two mating pheromones, M-factor and P-factor, secreted by M- and P-type cells, respectively. M-factor is a C-terminally farnesylated lipid peptide, whereas P-factor is a simple peptide. To examine whether this chemical asymmetry in the two pheromones is essential for conjugation, we constructed a mating system in which either pheromone can stimulate both M- and P-cells, and examined whether the resulting autocrine strains can mate. Autocrine M-cells responding to M-factor successfully mated with P-factor-less P-cells, indicating that P-factor is not essential for conjugation; by contrast, autocrine P-cells responding to P-factor were unable to mate with M-factor-less M-cells. The sterility of the autocrine P-cells was completely recovered by expressing the M-factor receptor. These observations indicate that the different chemical characteristics of the two types of pheromone, a lipid and a simple peptide, are not essential; however, a lipid peptide is absolutely required for successful mating. Our findings allow us to propose a model of the differential roles of M-factor and P-factor in conjugation of S. pombe.Summary statement Lipid pheromone peptides secreted locally from one cell may be concentrated at the fusion site with an opposite mating-type cell, which then polarizes to enable successful conjugation in S. pombe.