In order to survive and proliferate, cells must rapidly respond to changes in their environment, such as fluctuations in temperature or nutrient availability. For example, temperature has a pronounced impact on membrane lipid composition, and nutrient availability affects the timing of cell-cycle progression. Accordingly, both lipid metabolism and cell-cycle progression are tightly regulated at multiple levels. In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, several transcription factors have been identified that regulate the expression of lipid metabolism genes, with some of them also affecting cell-cycle progression. The transcription factors Cbf11 and Mga2 share a common set of target genes, however, little is known whether and how they cooperate to regulate lipid metabolism, and which environmental stimuli regulate Cbf11 and Mga2 activity. Curiously, deletion of the cbf11 gene leads to fatal mitotic defects, and their penetrance is affected by specific environmental conditions. The project will aim to determine the impact of environment on lipid metabolism in S. pombe, on the transcriptional regulatory network of lipid metabolism genes, and characterize the link between lipid metabolism and mitotic fidelity.
- assigned by the advisor