A glutamine synthetase mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae shows defect in cell wall

To study the organization and biosynthesis of the yeast cell wall, hypo-osmolarity-sensitive mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae were analyzed. Cells of JS4 were irregular in shape and fragile. Calcofluor staining and quantitative analysis indicated that the chitin content was reduced. By DNA cloning and genetic analysis, the mutation hpo1-1 was found to be allelic to GLN1 which encodes glutamine synthetase. The glutamine content was significantly low in JS4, and the mutant was recovered from the cell wall defect by supplying glutamine in the medium. Partial inhibition of glutamine synthetase by phosphinothricin also induced defects in the cell wall. These results indicate that the shortage of glutamine affects cell wall integrity prior to other cellular functions.