A Saccharomyces cerevisiae protein-serine kinase related to mammalian glycogen synthase kinase-3 and the Drosophila melanogaster gene shaggy product

Abstract The glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) family of protein-serine kinases is implicated in the development and hormonal regulation of higher eukaryotes. GSK -3-related genes have been cloned and characterized in mammals (α and β forms), Drosophila melanogaster ( shaggy/zeste-white3 ) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae ( MCK1 ). Using the polymerase chain reaction and primers designed to hybridize to conserved catalytic domain sequences of this family, a genomic fragment was amplified from budding yeast DNA. Genomic clones encompassing the entire reading frame were subsequently isolated and sequenced. The protein encoded by this gene, termed ScGSK-3, displays high identity with members of the GSK-3 family, sharing several structural features including a regulatory Tyr residue. A phylogenetic analysis of the catalytic domains of these protein kinases suggests that ScGSK-3 represents the bona fide homologue of GSK-3 and the shaggy product, while the related MCK1 protein kinase is encoded by a paralogous gene which originated by a gene duplication event in the yeast lineage.