Learning from yeasts: intracellular sensing of stress conditions Authors Mariano Gacto Department of Genetics and Microbiology, University of Murcia, Spain Teresa Soto Department of Genetics and Microbiology, University of Murcia, Spain Jero Vicente-Soler Department of Genetics and Microbiology, University of Murcia, Spain Tomás G. Villa Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain José Cansado Department of Genetics and Microbiology, University of Murcia, Spain Keywords: signal transduction, MAPK pathways, SAPK pathways, fission yeast, stress response Abstract One intriguing challenge in modern biology is to understand how cells respond to, and distinguish between different stressing stimuli. Evidence accumulated in recent years indicates that a network of signaling pathways extends from the plasma membrane to the very core of the cell nucleus to transduce environmental changes into a graded transcriptional response. Although many steps still remain unclear, studies on the stress-activated protein kinase (SAPK) pathways and related mechanisms provide insight into the biochemistry that regulates signal transmission and leads to outcomes such as cell adaptation and differentiation. This review focuses on selected topics of current interest related to the sensing of stress signals in cells of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Because signaling pathways appear to be evolutionarily well conserved, yeasts may be useful models to learn how higher eukaryotes sense and respond to stresses at the cellular level. Downloads PDF Published 2010-03-08 Issue Vol. 6 No. 3 (2003) Section Review Articles License Submission of a manuscript to International Microbiology implies: that the work described has not been published before, including publication in the World Wide Web (except in the form of an Abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, or thesis); that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; that all the coauthors have agreed to its publication. The corresponding author signs for and accepts responsability for releasing this material and will act on behalf of any and all coauthors regarding the editorial review and publication process.If an article is accepted for publication in International Microbiology, the authors (or other copyright holder) must transfer to the journal the right–not exclusive–to reproduce and distribute the article including reprints, translations, photographic reproductions, microform, electronic form (offline, online) or any other reproductions of similar nature. Nevertheless, all article in International Microbiology will be available on the Internet to any reader at no cost. The journal allows users to freely download, copy, print, distribute, search, and link to the full text of any article, provided the authorship and source of the published article is cited. The copyright owner's consent does not include copying for new works, or resale. In these cases, the specific written permission of International Microbiology must first be obtained.Authors are requested to create a link to the published article on the journal's website. The link must be accompanied by the following text: "The original publication is available on LINK at <http://www.im.microbios.org>. Please use the appropiate URL for the article in LINK. Articles disseminated via LINK are indexed, abstracted, and referenced by many abstracting and information services, bibliographic networks, subscription agencies, library networks, and consortia.