A general screen for mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae deficient in tRNA biosynthesis

We have devised a general screen for isolating conditional lethal mutants defective in synthesis of mature tRNA in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Using this screen, we have identified several new genes in yeast that are required for production of mature tRNA. These genes most likely encode essential functions, since the mutations we isolated are recessive and cause temperature-sensitive growth. One of the mutants, tpd3, is defective in de novo transcription of 4S RNA at the nonpermissive temperature. A second mutant, tpd1, is specifically defective in excision of intervening sequence from a variety of tRNA species. Finally, two other mutants are defective in production of tRNA from a suppressor tRNA locus, as measured by an in vitro suppression assay. The specific lesion in these strains, though, is not known. These data confirm that the screen does, in fact, yield a broad spectrum of mutants defective in tRNA maturation.