Caffeine-resistance in fission yeast is caused by mutations in a single essential gene, crm1+

Caffeine is a base analogue and is known to affect a wide variety of cellular processes. In order to dissect genetically molecules which mediate the biological effects of caffeine, temperature-sensitive (ts) and caffeine-resistant mutants were isolated from fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Surprisingly, all twelve ts isolates contained a mutation in the same locus, crm1. Cells of the ts crm1 mutant showed an abnormal chromosome structure at the restrictive temperature, an elevated expression of Pap1-dependent transcription, and cross-resistance to an unrelated drug such as staurosporine. Overproduction of pap1+ also conferred caffeine resistance, whilst the resistance of the crm1 mutant is abolished in the pap1- background. These results show that the crm1+ gene is a major locus for caffeine resistance, which arises from Pap1-dependent transcriptional activation.