Pheromone-regulated genes required for yeast mating differentiation

A large-scale transposon tagging screen was conducted to identify pheromone-regulated Saccharomyces cerevisiae genes. Mating defects were observed in the novel genes FIG1, FIG2, KAR5/FIG3 and FIG4. Results suggest that several novel genes are specifically expressed during mating differentiation to regulate mating processes such as proper cell morphogenesis and cell fusion.