The HTL1 gene (YCR020W-b) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is necessary for growth at 37 degrees C, and for the conservation of chromosome stability and fertility

A small 78 codon ORF, named HTL1 (Chen et al, unpublished results), situated between loci MAK31 and HSP30 on chromosome III of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is required for growth at 37 degreesC. In this communication, we characterize the Cliff and show that disruption of HTL1, besides preventing growth at 37 degreesC, causes genetic and/or epigenetic instability at 26 degreesC: ploidy increases in about 10% of cells grown from individual disruptants and a fraction of disruptant clones are predestined to a rapid and progressive loss of fertility during growth at 26 degreesC. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.