7 Cell Cycle Control in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

I. INTRODUCTION The cell cycle comprises the set of processes that result in duplication of all cell constituents, segregation of the duplicated constituents to different parts of the cell, and division into two daughter cells. To ensure that each division produces two viable progeny, these disparate processes must be coordinated both temporally and spatially. Our understanding of the molecular basis for this coordination has grown dramatically since this topic was reviewed in the previous edition of this monograph (Pringle and Hartwell 1981), leading to a unified theory of cell cycle control that, in its essential elements, is believed to apply to all eukaryotic cells. In this chapter, we do not attempt to trace the historical development of this theory, which involved crucial insights from several experimental systems and many investigators. Instead, we attempt to provide a coherent picture of what is known about the temporal control of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell cycle in the context of the unified theory. In so doing, we have attempted to cite the papers most pertinent to our present understanding, papers of particular historical importance, and papers that provide key points of entry into the wider literature. The vastness of this wider literature precluded any attempt to cite all relevant papers, and we have doubtless inadvertantly failed to cite some papers whose historical importance or current utility is equal to or greater than that of the papers that we have cited. For this, we apologize to the investigators concerned. II. CELL CYCLE PHASES, TRANSITIONS, AND...