Isolation and sequence analysis of mutations inCEN5 DNA of yeast

Abstract

We used a positive selection scheme involving a minichromosome maintenance mutant mcm2 to isolate mutations in centromeric DNA of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Two mutations in CEN5 DNA were isolated. One of these mutations is a change from C:G to T: A at the 14th base pair of the CDEIII box, while the second is a complete deletion of all the CDE elements of this centromere. This work underscores the importance of the 14th base pair of CDEIII in CEN5 function.