Isolation of UV-inducible transcripts from Schizosaccharomyces pombe

Four UV-inducible cDNA clones, UVI15, UVI18, UVI22 and UVI31, were isolated from Schizosaccharomyces pombe by subtraction hybridization. All transcripts of these clones were rapidly induced about 5 to 10 fold within 1 hour after UV-irradiation and the nucleotide sequences of these clones did not showed any significant sequence homology to the known genes in the data bases. Transcripts of UVI18 and UVI31 were induced only by UV-irradiation and those of UVI22 were also induced by alkylating agents, suggesting that inductions of these transcripts are specific responses to DNA damages. However, transcript levels of UVI15 were also increased by other cytotoxic agents including heat shock. These results indicate that UVI15 might be a stress responsive gene.