A co-activator of nitrogen-regulated transcription in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the transcription factors Gln3p and Nil1p of the GATA family play a determinant role in expression of genes that are subject to nitrogen catabolite repression. Here we report the isolation of a new yeast mutant, gan1-1, exhibiting dramatically decreased NAD-linked glutamate dehydrogenase (NAD-GDH) and glutamine synthetase (GS) activities. The GAN1 gene was cloned and found to encode a 488-amino-acid polypeptide bearing no typical DNA binding domain. Gan1p is required for full expression of GLN1, GDH2 and also other nitrogen utilization genes, including GAP1, PUT4, MEP2 and GDH1. The extent to which Gan1p is required, however, varies according to the gene and to the nitrogen source available. We show that Gan1p is in fact involved in Gln3p- and Nil1p-dependent transcription. In the case of Gln3p-dependent transcription, the degree to which Gan1p is required appears to be gene specific. The contribution of Gan1p to gene expression is also influenced by the nitrogen status of the cell. We found that GAN1 is identical to ADA1, which encodes a component of the ADA/GCN5 co-activator complex. Ada1/Gan1p thus represents the first reported case of an accessory protein (a co-activator) linking the GATA-binding proteins Gln3p and Nil1p, mediating nitrogen-regulated transcription, to the basal transcription machinery.Journal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tFLWINinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Organization and expression of a two-gene cluster in the arginine biosynthesis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, argB and argC define two adjacent and complementing loci, with mutants defective in two consecutive steps of arginine biosynthesis: N-acetylglutamate kinase (AG-kinase) and N-acetylglutamyl-phosphate reductase (AGPreductase). These enzymic activities are readily separated by ammonium sulfate fractionation or Sephadex G-200 chromatography. This suggests that each activity is carried in vivo by a different protein. The synthesis of the two enzymes is coordinately regulated, with an 85-fold difference in specific activities between fully repressed and fully derepressed cells. Missense mutations in the argB locus are defective in AGkinase only. Nonsense mutations in the argB locus are defective in both activities. Missense and nonsense mutations in the argC locus are defective in AGPreductase, with a few alleles also showing a reduced level of AGkinase. These data are best explained by assuming that argB and argC are two genes transcribed as a single messenger from argB to argC. This messenger produces in vivo two distinct proteins corresponding to the argB and argC gene products, either because translation can be initiated at the beginning of both genes, or because a large polypeptide is specifically cut in vivo to yield the gene products of argB and argC. © 1979 Springer-Verlag.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe