Whi3 mnemon association with endoplasmic reticulum membranes confines the memory of deceptive courtship to the yeast mother cell.

Prion-like proteins are involved in many aspects of cellular physiology, including cellular memory. In response to deceptive courtship, budding yeast escapes pheromone-induced cell-cycle arrest through the coalescence of the G1/S inhibitor Whi3 into a dominant, inactive super-assembly. Whi3 is a mnemon (Whi3), a protein that conformational change maintains as a trait in the mother cell but is not inherited by the daughter cells.