The fission yeast cells that conrained the cloned glutathione synthase (GS) gene showed 1.4-fold higher glutathione (GSH) content and 1.9-fold higher GS activity than the cells without the cloned GS gene. Interestingly, r-glutamylcystein synthetase activity increased 2.1-fold in the S. pombe cells that contained the cloned GS gene. The S. pombe cells that harbored the the multicopy-number plasimid pRGS49 (containing the cloned GS gene) shoed a higher level of survival on solid media with cadmium chloride (1mM) or mercurie chloride (10μM) than the cells that harbored the YEp357R vector. The 506 bp and N-terminal 8 amino acid-coding region were fused into the promoterless β-galactosidase from the fusion plasmid pUGS39 was significantly enhanced by cadmium chloride and NP-generating S-nitroso-N-acetrylpenicillamine (SNAP) and sodium nitroprusside (SN). It was also induced by L-buthionine-(S,R)-sulfoximine, a specific inhibitor of r-glutamylcystein synthetase (GCS). We also found that the exoression of the S. pombe GS gene is regulated by the Atfl-Spc1-Wis1 signal pathway.