Mutations in LIS1 (ERG6) gene confer increased sodium and lithium uptake in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

A Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant, lisI-1, hypersensitive to Li+ and Na+ was isolated from a wild-type strain after ethylmethane sulfonate mutagenesis. The rates of Li+ and Na+ uptake of the mutant are about 3–4-times higher than that of the wild-type; while the rates of cation efflux from the mutant and wild-type strains are indistinguishable. The LIS1 was isolated from a yeast genomic library by complementation of the cation hypersensitivity...