We report here an in vivo study of kinesin heavy chain (KHC) functions in yeast. We have identified in Schizosaccharomyces pombe a kinesin motor gene, klp3(+), which has the highest homology to the Neurospora crassa KHC. Using indirect immunofluorescence, HA epitope-tagged Klp3 protein is cytoplasmic and appears as one to a few distinct patches that are coincident with microtubules. The klp3 null allele is viable. In klp3 deleted cells, ER, Golgi and mitochondrial distribution appear normal. Mitochondrial distribution in S. pombe is known to be microtubule-associated. We show that latrunculin A does not cause mitochondria to aggregate, suggesting that mitochondrial distribution in fission yeast, unlike budding yeast, is not dependent upon actin-based processes. Neither latrunculin A nor thiabendazole affects ER or Golgi distribution. We also used the vital dye FM4-64 to visualize the internalization of the dye and its transport to vacuoles in fission yeast in the presence and absence of Klp3. We observed no significant difference between the wild-type and Klp3 null cells in either the dynamics of endocytosis or the distribution and fusion of vacuoles. The drug brefeldin A causes Golgi-to-ER recycling in wild-type fission yeast cells. Although recycling of Golgi to ER after brefeldin A treatment occurs in klp3 null cells, recycling is defective and the distribution pattern we see is different from that observed in the wild-type strain. We conclude that Klp3 plays a role in BFA-induced membrane transport. The nucleotide sequence of S. pombe klp3(+) was submitted to GenBank under Accession No. AF154055.
Copyright 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.