Skip to main content
PMC home page
Genetics logoLink to Genetics
. 1995 Feb;139(2):523–536. doi: 10.1093/genetics/139.2.523

The Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Spt7 Gene Encodes a Very Acidic Protein Important for Transcription in Vivo

L J Gansheroff 1, C Dollard 1, P Tan 1, F Winston 1
PMCID: PMC1206364  PMID: 7713415

Abstract

Mutations in the SPT7 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae originally were identified as suppressors of Ty and {delta small} insertion mutations in the 5' regions of the HIS4 and LYS2 genes. Other genes that have been identified in mutant hunts of this type have been shown to play a role in transcription. In this work we show that SPT7 is also important for proper transcription in vivo. We have cloned and sequenced the SPT7 gene and have shown that it encodes a large, acidic protein that is localized to the nucleus. The SPT7 protein contains a bromodomain sequence; a deletion that removes the bromodomain from the SPT7 protein causes no detectable mutant phenotype. Strains that contain an spt7 null mutation are viable but grow very slowly and have transcriptional defects at many loci including insertion mutations, Ty elements, the INO1 gene and the MFA1 gene. These transcriptional defects and other mutant phenotypes are similar to those caused by certain mutations in SPT15, which encodes the TATA binding protein (TBP). The similarity of the phenotypes of spt7 and spt15 mutants, including effects of spt7 mutations on the transcription start site of certain genes, suggests that SPT7 plays an important role in transcription initiation in vivo.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (6.4 MB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Altschul S. F., Gish W., Miller W., Myers E. W., Lipman D. J. Basic local alignment search tool. J Mol Biol. 1990 Oct 5;215(3):403–410. doi: 10.1016/S0022-2836(05)80360-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bossie M. A., DeHoratius C., Barcelo G., Silver P. A mutant nuclear protein with similarity to RNA binding proteins interferes with nuclear import in yeast. Mol Biol Cell. 1992 Aug;3(8):875–893. doi: 10.1091/mbc.3.8.875. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Brow D. A., Guthrie C. Transcription of a yeast U6 snRNA gene requires a polymerase III promoter element in a novel position. Genes Dev. 1990 Aug;4(8):1345–1356. doi: 10.1101/gad.4.8.1345. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Buratowski S. The basics of basal transcription by RNA polymerase II. Cell. 1994 Apr 8;77(1):1–3. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(94)90226-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Burke R. L., Tekamp-Olson P., Najarian R. The isolation, characterization, and sequence of the pyruvate kinase gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J Biol Chem. 1983 Feb 25;258(4):2193–2201. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Burnol A. F., Margottin F., Schultz P., Marsolier M. C., Oudet P., Sentenac A. Basal promoter and enhancer element of yeast U6 snRNA gene. J Mol Biol. 1993 Oct 20;233(4):644–658. doi: 10.1006/jmbi.1993.1542. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Chen W., Struhl K. Saturation mutagenesis of a yeast his3 "TATA element": genetic evidence for a specific TATA-binding protein. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1988 Apr;85(8):2691–2695. doi: 10.1073/pnas.85.8.2691. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Chen W., Struhl K. Yeast mRNA initiation sites are determined primarily by specific sequences, not by the distance from the TATA element. EMBO J. 1985 Dec 1;4(12):3273–3280. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1985.tb04077.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Chen W., Tabor S., Struhl K. Distinguishing between mechanisms of eukaryotic transcriptional activation with bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase. Cell. 1987 Sep 25;50(7):1047–1055. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90171-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Conaway R. C., Conaway J. W. General initiation factors for RNA polymerase II. Annu Rev Biochem. 1993;62:161–190. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.62.070193.001113. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Cormack B. P., Struhl K. The TATA-binding protein is required for transcription by all three nuclear RNA polymerases in yeast cells. Cell. 1992 May 15;69(4):685–696. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(92)90232-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Dean-Johnson M., Henry S. A. Biosynthesis of inositol in yeast. Primary structure of myo-inositol-1-phosphate synthase (EC 5.5.1.4) and functional analysis of its structural gene, the INO1 locus. J Biol Chem. 1989 Jan 15;264(2):1274–1283. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Dolan J. W., Kirkman C., Fields S. The yeast STE12 protein binds to the DNA sequence mediating pheromone induction. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989 Aug;86(15):5703–5707. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.15.5703. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Drapkin R., Merino A., Reinberg D. Regulation of RNA polymerase II transcription. Curr Opin Cell Biol. 1993 Jun;5(3):469–476. doi: 10.1016/0955-0674(93)90013-g. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Eisenmann D. M., Arndt K. M., Ricupero S. L., Rooney J. W., Winston F. SPT3 interacts with TFIID to allow normal transcription in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Genes Dev. 1992 Jul;6(7):1319–1331. doi: 10.1101/gad.6.7.1319. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Eisenmann D. M., Chapon C., Roberts S. M., Dollard C., Winston F. The Saccharomyces cerevisiae SPT8 gene encodes a very acidic protein that is functionally related to SPT3 and TATA-binding protein. Genetics. 1994 Jul;137(3):647–657. doi: 10.1093/genetics/137.3.647. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Eisenmann D. M., Dollard C., Winston F. SPT15, the gene encoding the yeast TATA binding factor TFIID, is required for normal transcription initiation in vivo. Cell. 1989 Sep 22;58(6):1183–1191. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90516-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Georgakopoulos T., Thireos G. Two distinct yeast transcriptional activators require the function of the GCN5 protein to promote normal levels of transcription. EMBO J. 1992 Nov;11(11):4145–4152. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1992.tb05507.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Haynes S. R., Dollard C., Winston F., Beck S., Trowsdale J., Dawid I. B. The bromodomain: a conserved sequence found in human, Drosophila and yeast proteins. Nucleic Acids Res. 1992 May 25;20(10):2603–2603. doi: 10.1093/nar/20.10.2603. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Hernandez N. TBP, a universal eukaryotic transcription factor? Genes Dev. 1993 Jul;7(7B):1291–1308. doi: 10.1101/gad.7.7b.1291. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Hirsch J. P., Henry S. A. Expression of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae inositol-1-phosphate synthase (INO1) gene is regulated by factors that affect phospholipid synthesis. Mol Cell Biol. 1986 Oct;6(10):3320–3328. doi: 10.1128/mcb.6.10.3320. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Hirschhorn J. N., Winston F. SPT3 is required for normal levels of a-factor and alpha-factor expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol Cell Biol. 1988 Feb;8(2):822–827. doi: 10.1128/mcb.8.2.822. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Hoffman C. S., Winston F. A ten-minute DNA preparation from yeast efficiently releases autonomous plasmids for transformation of Escherichia coli. Gene. 1987;57(2-3):267–272. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(87)90131-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Huisman O., Raymond W., Froehlich K. U., Errada P., Kleckner N., Botstein D., Hoyt M. A. A Tn10-lacZ-kanR-URA3 gene fusion transposon for insertion mutagenesis and fusion analysis of yeast and bacterial genes. Genetics. 1987 Jun;116(2):191–199. doi: 10.1093/genetics/116.2.191. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Kempers-Veenstra A. E., Oliemans J., Offenberg H., Dekker A. F., Piper P. W., Planta R. J., Klootwijk J. 3'-End formation of transcripts from the yeast rRNA operon. EMBO J. 1986 Oct;5(10):2703–2710. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1986.tb04554.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Kim Y. J., Björklund S., Li Y., Sayre M. H., Kornberg R. D. A multiprotein mediator of transcriptional activation and its interaction with the C-terminal repeat domain of RNA polymerase II. Cell. 1994 May 20;77(4):599–608. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(94)90221-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Koleske A. J., Young R. A. An RNA polymerase II holoenzyme responsive to activators. Nature. 1994 Mar 31;368(6470):466–469. doi: 10.1038/368466a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Laurent B. C., Treich I., Carlson M. The yeast SNF2/SWI2 protein has DNA-stimulated ATPase activity required for transcriptional activation. Genes Dev. 1993 Apr;7(4):583–591. doi: 10.1101/gad.7.4.583. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Lillie S. H., Brown S. S. Artifactual immunofluorescent labelling in yeast, demonstrated by affinity purification of antibody. Yeast. 1987 Jun;3(2):63–70. doi: 10.1002/yea.320030202. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Lue N. F., Buchman A. R., Kornberg R. D. Activation of yeast RNA polymerase II transcription by a thymidine-rich upstream element in vitro. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989 Jan;86(2):486–490. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.2.486. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Norrander J., Kempe T., Messing J. Construction of improved M13 vectors using oligodeoxynucleotide-directed mutagenesis. Gene. 1983 Dec;26(1):101–106. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(83)90040-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. O'Connor J. P., Peebles C. L. In vivo pre-tRNA processing in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol Cell Biol. 1991 Jan;11(1):425–439. doi: 10.1128/mcb.11.1.425. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Parvin J. D., Sharp P. A. DNA topology and a minimal set of basal factors for transcription by RNA polymerase II. Cell. 1993 May 7;73(3):533–540. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(93)90140-l. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Poon D., Weil P. A. Immunopurification of yeast TATA-binding protein and associated factors. Presence of transcription factor IIIB transcriptional activity. J Biol Chem. 1993 Jul 25;268(21):15325–15328. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Rose M. D., Novick P., Thomas J. H., Botstein D., Fink G. R. A Saccharomyces cerevisiae genomic plasmid bank based on a centromere-containing shuttle vector. Gene. 1987;60(2-3):237–243. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(87)90232-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Sanger F., Nicklen S., Coulson A. R. DNA sequencing with chain-terminating inhibitors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Dec;74(12):5463–5467. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.12.5463. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Scafe C., Chao D., Lopes J., Hirsch J. P., Henry S., Young R. A. RNA polymerase II C-terminal repeat influences response to transcriptional enhancer signals. Nature. 1990 Oct 4;347(6292):491–494. doi: 10.1038/347491a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Sikorski R. S., Hieter P. A system of shuttle vectors and yeast host strains designed for efficient manipulation of DNA in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Genetics. 1989 May;122(1):19–27. doi: 10.1093/genetics/122.1.19. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. Struhl K., Stinchcomb D. T., Scherer S., Davis R. W. High-frequency transformation of yeast: autonomous replication of hybrid DNA molecules. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1979 Mar;76(3):1035–1039. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.3.1035. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  40. Swanson M. S., Winston F. SPT4, SPT5 and SPT6 interactions: effects on transcription and viability in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Genetics. 1992 Oct;132(2):325–336. doi: 10.1093/genetics/132.2.325. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  41. Takano E., Maki M., Mori H., Hatanaka M., Marti T., Titani K., Kannagi R., Ooi T., Murachi T. Pig heart calpastatin: identification of repetitive domain structures and anomalous behavior in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Biochemistry. 1988 Mar 22;27(6):1964–1972. doi: 10.1021/bi00406a024. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  42. Thompson C. M., Koleske A. J., Chao D. M., Young R. A. A multisubunit complex associated with the RNA polymerase II CTD and TATA-binding protein in yeast. Cell. 1993 Jul 2;73(7):1361–1375. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(93)90362-t. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  43. Tyree C. M., George C. P., Lira-DeVito L. M., Wampler S. L., Dahmus M. E., Zawel L., Kadonaga J. T. Identification of a minimal set of proteins that is sufficient for accurate initiation of transcription by RNA polymerase II. Genes Dev. 1993 Jul;7(7A):1254–1265. doi: 10.1101/gad.7.7a.1254. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  44. Winston F., Dollard C., Malone E. A., Clare J., Kapakos J. G., Farabaugh P., Minehart P. L. Three genes are required for trans-activation of Ty transcription in yeast. Genetics. 1987 Apr;115(4):649–656. doi: 10.1093/genetics/115.4.649. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Genetics are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES