Human and Giardia ADP-ribosylation factors (ARFs) complement ARF function in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

ADP-ribosylation factors (ARFs) are approximately 20-kDa guanine nucleotide-binding proteins that stimulate the ADP-ribosyltransferase activity of cholera toxin in vitro. ARFs are highly conserved, ubiquitously expressed in eukaryotic cells and appear to be involved in vesicular protein transport. The two yeast ARFs are > 60% identical to mammalian ARFs and are essential for cell viability (Stearns, T., Kahn, R. A., Botstein, D., and Hoyt, M. A. (1990) Mol. Cell. Biol. 10, 6690-6699). Although the two yeast ARF proteins are 96% identical in amino acid sequence, the yeast ARF1 gene is constitutively expressed, whereas the ARF2 gene is repressed by glucose. Human ARF5 and ARF6 and a Giardia ARF differ substantially in size and amino acid identity from other mammalian and eukaryotic ARFs but will, as befits their designation, activate cholera toxin. Expression of human ARF5, ARF6, or Giardia ARF cDNA rescued the lethal yeast ARF double mutant (arf1, arf2). Strains rescued by human ARF5, ARF6, or Giardia ARF grew much more slowly than wild-type yeast or strains rescued with yeast ARF1. We infer from the impaired growth of these rescued strains that the homologous ARFs may have specific targeting information that does not interact effectively or efficiently with the yeast protein membrane trafficking system.