Effects of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor ligands on yeast sporulation

Earlier studies have suggested that glutamate may play an important role in the transition between the mitotic (vegetative) and meiotic (sporulative) stages of the life cycle in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Glutamate is also a major excitatory neurotransmitter in the vertebrate brain, and its actions are mediated by the excitatory amino acid (EAA) family of receptors, the three best-characterized of which are the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), quisqualate (Q), and kainate (K) receptors. As an initial test of the possibility that glutamate action in S. cerevisiae might be mediated by an EAA-like receptor mechanism, the effects of ligands that define the functional domains of the vertebrate NMDA receptor have been examined. The responses of S. cerevisiae cells to ligands that act at four distinct sites on the NMDA receptor provide the first evidence for an NMDA-like receptor-mediated system involved in the control of yeast sporulation.