Genes for directing vacuolar morphogenesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. I. Isolation and characterization of two classes of vam mutants.

We identified nine VAM genes (for vacuolar morphology) by genetic analyses on mutants with defective vacuolar morphologies and assembly in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The nine VAM genes were classified into two classes according to the mutant phenotypes. The class I vam mutants (vam1, vam5, vam8, and vam9) show a few small vesicles that are stained with histochemical markers for the vacuolar compartment. They also have defects in the maturation of vacuolar marker proteins, and their growth is hypersensitive to high concentrations of CaCl2 or a temperature of 37 degrees C. There are apparent genetic overlaps among the class I vam mutations and other mutations including cls, end, pep, and vps, which have been shown to be involved in the expression of the vacuolar functions. The class II vam mutants (vam2, vam3, vam4, vam6, and vam7) contain numerous small vesicles stained with the vacuolar histochemical markers and mature forms of the vacuolar proteins and do not show any apparent growth defects in the presence of CaCl2 or at 37 degrees C.