SEN1, a positive effector of tRNA-splicing endonuclease in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The SEN1 gene, which is essential for growth in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is required for endonucleolytic cleavage of introns from all 10 families of precursor tRNAs. A mutation in SEN1 conferring temperature- sensitive lethality also causes in vivo accumulation of pre-tRNAs and a deficiency of in vitro endonuclease activity. Biochemical evidence suggests that the gene product may be one of several components of a nuclear-localized splicing complex. We have cloned the SEN1 gene and characterized the SEN1 mRNA, the SEN1 gene product, the temperature-sensitive sen1-1 mutation, and three SEN1 null alleles. The SEN1 gene corresponds to a 6,336-bp open reading frame coding for a 2,112-amino-acid protein (molecular mass, 239 kDa). Using antisera directed against the C-terminal end of SEN1, we detect a protein corresponding to the predicted molecular weight of SEN1. The SEN1 protein contains a leucine zipper motif, consensus elements for nucleoside triphosphate binding, and a potential nuclear localization signal sequence. The carboxy-terminal 1,214 amino acids of the SEN1 protein are essential for growth, whereas the amino-terminal 898 amino acids are dispensable. A sequence of approximately 500 amino acids located in the essential region of SEN1 has significant similarity to the yeast UPF1 gene product, which is involved in mRNA turnover, and the mouse Mov-10 gene product, whose function is unknown. The mutation that creates the temperature-sensitive sen1-1 allele is located within this 500-amino-acid region, and it causes a substitution for an amino acid that is conserved in all three proteins.