A geneticist has devised a strategy to study protein translocation into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) in yeast cells. She is interested in two different signal sequences that are thought to operate via slightly different translocation mechanisms. Using genetic engineering, she has fused the first signal sequence to a protein whose cytosolic expression is absolutely necessary for cell survival in the selective medium, but is inactive when in the ER. In the same cell, she has also fused the second signal sequence to a toxic protein whose cytosolic expression leads to cell lysis but is harmless when in the ER. Whereas wild-type cells undergo lysis upon the expression of these fusion proteins, she has been able to identify viable mutants, each of which has a loss-of-function mutation in a gene encoding a protein involved in membrane translocation. The products of these genes are probably ...

A geneticist has devised a strategy to study protein translocation into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) in yeast cells. She is interested in two different signal sequences that are thought to operate via slightly different translocation mechanisms. Using genetic engineering, she has fused the first signal sequence to a protein whose cytosolic expression is absolutely necessary for cell survival in the selective medium, but is inactive when in the ER. In the same cell, she has also fused the second signal sequence to a toxic protein whose cytosolic expression leads to cell lysis but is harmless when in the ER. Whereas wild-type cells undergo lysis upon the expression of these fusion proteins, she has been able to identify viable mutants, each of which has a loss-of-function mutation in a gene encoding a protein involved in membrane translocation. The products of these genes are probably ...

Explanation:

Involved in the transport of proteins with the first signal sequence but not the second one.