Checkpoint-independent Regulation of Origin Firing by Mrc1 through Interaction with Hsk1 kinase. Schizosaccharomyces pombe

Mrc1 is a conserved checkpoint mediator protein that transduces replication-stress signal to downstream effector kinase. Loss of mrc1 checkpoint activity results in aberrant activation of late/dormant origins in the presence of hydroxyurea. Mrc1 was also suggested to regulate orders of early-origin firing in a checkpoint-independent manner, but its mechanism was unknown. Here we identify HBS (Hsk1 Bypass Segment) on Mrc1. ∆HBS does not suppress late/dormant origin firing in the presence of hydroxyurea but causes precocious and enhanced activation of weak early-firing origins during normal S-phase progression, and bypasses the requirement of Hsk1 for growth. This may be caused by disruption of intramolecular binding between HBS and NTHBS (N-terminal-Target-of-HBS). Hsk1 binds to Mrc1 through HBS and phosphorylates a segment adjacent to NTHBS, disrupting intramolecular interaction. We propose that Mrc1 exerts “brake” on initiation (through intra-molecular interaction) and this brake can be released (upon loss of intra-molecular interaction) by either Hsk1-mediated phosphorylation of Mrc1 or deletion of HBS (or phosphomimic mutation) which can bypass the function of Hsk1 for growth. The “brake” mechanism may explain the checkpoint-independent regulation of early origin firing in fission yeast. Overall design: Replication profile by ChIP-seq of BrdU-incorporation in wild-type, mrc1∆, mrc1-3A, mrc1∆hbs. And the location of the potential replication origins by ChIP-seq of Mcm4