MAR1-a Regulator of the HMa and HMalpha Loci in SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE.

A mutation in the MAR1 (mating-type regulator) locus causing sterility in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is reported. The mutation maps on the left arm of linkage group IV between trp1 and cdc2 at a distance of about 27 cM from trp1 and about 31 cM from cdc2. Haploid strains with genotype MATalpha HMalpha HMa mar1-1 and MATa HMalpha HMamar1-1 are sterile. However, MATalpha hmalpha HMa mar1-1 and MATa HMalpha hma mar1-1 strains exhibit alpha and a mating type, respectively. The sterile strains can be "rare mated" with standard strains as a consequence of mutational changes at HMa and HMalpha. It is proposed that the MAR1 locus blocks the expression of MATalpha and MATa information thought to exist at HMa and HMalpha loci, respectively (Hicks, Strathern and Herskowitz, 1977). In a mar1-1 mutant, the expression of both HMalpha and HMa information leads to a nonmating phenotype similar to that of MATa/MATalpha diploids. The genetic evidence reported here is consistent with a central feature of the "cassette model", namely that HMalpha and hma carry MATa information and HMa and hmalpha carry MATalpha information.