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. 1992 Jul;131(3):519–529. doi: 10.1093/genetics/131.3.519

Disruption of a Silencer Domain by a Retrotransposon

M F Mastrangelo 1, K G Weinstock 1, B K Shafer 1, A M Hedge 1, D J Garfinkel 1, J N Strathern 1
PMCID: PMC1205026  PMID: 1321064

Abstract

A galactose-inducible Ty element carrying the HIS3 gene has been used as an insertional mutagen to generate α-factor resistant mutants. This collection of Ty-induced mutations includes insertions into the gene for the α-factor receptor (STE2), several nonspecific STE genes, and mutations that lead to the expression of the normally silent HMLα locus. The hmlα ``on'' mutations fall into two classes, those that disrupt trans-acting regulators involved in silencing HMLα and a novel class of mutations that activate HMLα by insertion at that locus. The hmlα::Ty ``on'' mutations illustrate the unusual ability of these retrotransposons to activate genes by overcoming gene silencing mechanisms. The hmlα::Ty ``on'' mutations include examples of multimeric Ty arrays. Single Ty and solo δ insertion derivatives of these Ty multimers restore the ability of the silencing mechanism to repress HMLα.

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Selected References

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