FAR1 is required for posttranscriptional regulation of CLN2 gene expression in response to mating pheromone

Yeast cells arrest during the G1 interval of the cell cycle in response to peptide mating pheromones. The FAR1 gene is required for cell cycle arrest but not for a number of other aspects of the pheromone response. Genetic evidence suggests that FAR1 is required specifically for inactivation of the G1 cyclin CLN2. From these observations, the FAR1 gene has been proposed to encode an element of the interface between the mating pheromone signal transduction pathway and the cell cycle regulatory apparatus. We show here that FAR1 is necessary for the decrease in CLN1 and CLN2 transcript accumulation observed in response to mating pheromone but is unnecessary for regulation of the same transcripts during vegetative growth. However, the defect in regulation of CLN1 expression is dependent upon CLN2. We show that pheromone regulates the abundance of Cln2 at a posttranscriptional level and that FAR1 is required for that regulation. From these observations, we suggest that FAR1 function is limited to posttranscriptional regulation of CLN2 expression by mating pheromone. The failure of mating pheromone to repress CLN2 transcript levels in far1 mutants can be explained by the stimulatory effect of the persistent Cln2 protein on CLN2 transcription via the CLN/CDC28-dependent feedback pathway.