We have sequenced a gene on the right arm near the telomere of chromos
ome II of Saccharomyces cerevisiae which codes for a putative P-type c
ation-transporting ATPase (PCA1). The gene codes for a 1216 amino acid
s protein. The PCA1 gene expresses a 35 kb message in both haploid and
diploid cells when grown in glucose-based rich medium YPD. The gene p
roduct is most similar at the C-terminal region to a human copper-tran
sporting ATPase and Enterococcus hirae copper-transporting ATPases and
also an N-terminal dithiol region that was proposed to be a 'metal-bi
nding motif. Cells lacking PCA1 display no obvious phenotype when test
ed under standard conditions; whereas they cease growth much earlier t
han the isogenic wild-type cells in a minimal medium with high copper
concentration. Overexpression of PCA1 under GAL1/10 promoter in yeast
cells causes poor growth. We also show that yeast strains carrying PCA
1 in multiple copies grow slower than isogenic wild-type strains in a
minimal synthetic medium containing 0.3 mM-CuSO4. The sequence has bee
n deposited in the EMBL data library under Accession Number Z29332.