Skip to main content
PMC home page
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1987 Apr;84(8):2401–2405. doi: 10.1073/pnas.84.8.2401

Mutations that inactivate a yeast transcriptional regulatory protein cluster in an evolutionarily conserved DNA binding domain.

M Johnston, J Dover
PMCID: PMC304659  PMID: 3550810

Abstract

The protein encoded by the GAL4 gene of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae binds to DNA upstream of several genes and activates transcription. To try to understand these processes, we have undertaken a genetic analysis of GAL4. Here we report that nearly all missense mutations in GAL4, selected in vivo to lack function of the protein, cluster in the small region of the gene that encodes the DNA binding domain. About half of these mutations alters a cysteine-rich region of the protein highly homologous to several eukaryotic DNA binding proteins; the other half alters some of the 20 amino acids adjacent to the cysteine-rich region. Nearly all of the missense mutations that alter the DNA binding domain abolish the DNA binding activity of GAL4 protein measured in vitro. In contrast, nearly all of the mutations that alter the 3' 95% of the gene that encodes the transcription activation function are nonsense or frameshift mutations. These results support the idea that the conserved cysteine-rich sequence motif is directly involved in binding of several eukaryotic transcriptional regulatory proteins to DNA.

Full text

PDF
2401

Selected References

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

  1. Allison L. A., Moyle M., Shales M., Ingles C. J. Extensive homology among the largest subunits of eukaryotic and prokaryotic RNA polymerases. Cell. 1985 Sep;42(2):599–610. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(85)90117-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Berg J. M. Potential metal-binding domains in nucleic acid binding proteins. Science. 1986 Apr 25;232(4749):485–487. doi: 10.1126/science.2421409. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bram R. J., Kornberg R. D. Specific protein binding to far upstream activating sequences in polymerase II promoters. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 Jan;82(1):43–47. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.1.43. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bram R. J., Lue N. F., Kornberg R. D. A GAL family of upstream activating sequences in yeast: roles in both induction and repression of transcription. EMBO J. 1986 Mar;5(3):603–608. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1986.tb04253.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Brent R., Ptashne M. A eukaryotic transcriptional activator bearing the DNA specificity of a prokaryotic repressor. Cell. 1985 Dec;43(3 Pt 2):729–736. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(85)90246-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Brosius J., Holy A. Regulation of ribosomal RNA promoters with a synthetic lac operator. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Nov;81(22):6929–6933. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.22.6929. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. DOUGLAS H. C., HAWTHORNE D. C. ENZYMATIC EXPRESSION AND GENETIC LINKAGE OF GENES CONTROLLING GALACTOSE UTILIZATION IN SACCHAROMYCES. Genetics. 1964 May;49:837–844. doi: 10.1093/genetics/49.5.837. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Debuire B., Henry C., Bernissa M., Biserte G., Claverie J. M., Saule S., Martin P., Stehelin D. Sequencing the erbA gene of avian erythroblastosis virus reveals a new type of oncogene. Science. 1984 Jun 29;224(4656):1456–1459. doi: 10.1126/science.6328658. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Francis G. R., Waterston R. H. Muscle organization in Caenorhabditis elegans: localization of proteins implicated in thin filament attachment and I-band organization. J Cell Biol. 1985 Oct;101(4):1532–1549. doi: 10.1083/jcb.101.4.1532. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Friedmann T., Esty A., LaPorte P., Deininger P. The nucleotide sequence and genome organization of the polyoma early region: extensive nucleotide and amino acid homology with SV40. Cell. 1979 Jul;17(3):715–724. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(79)90278-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Giniger E., Varnum S. M., Ptashne M. Specific DNA binding of GAL4, a positive regulatory protein of yeast. Cell. 1985 Apr;40(4):767–774. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(85)90336-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Ginsberg A. M., King B. O., Roeder R. G. Xenopus 5S gene transcription factor, TFIIIA: characterization of a cDNA clone and measurement of RNA levels throughout development. Cell. 1984 Dec;39(3 Pt 2):479–489. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90455-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Green S., Walter P., Kumar V., Krust A., Bornert J. M., Argos P., Chambon P. Human oestrogen receptor cDNA: sequence, expression and homology to v-erb-A. Nature. 1986 Mar 13;320(6058):134–139. doi: 10.1038/320134a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Greene G. L., Gilna P., Waterfield M., Baker A., Hort Y., Shine J. Sequence and expression of human estrogen receptor complementary DNA. Science. 1986 Mar 7;231(4742):1150–1154. doi: 10.1126/science.3753802. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Guarente L. Yeast promoters: positive and negative elements. Cell. 1984 Apr;36(4):799–800. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90028-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Hartshorne T. A., Blumberg H., Young E. T. Sequence homology of the yeast regulatory protein ADR1 with Xenopus transcription factor TFIIIA. Nature. 1986 Mar 20;320(6059):283–287. doi: 10.1038/320283a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Hollenberg S. M., Weinberger C., Ong E. S., Cerelli G., Oro A., Lebo R., Thompson E. B., Rosenfeld M. G., Evans R. M. Primary structure and expression of a functional human glucocorticoid receptor cDNA. Nature. 1985 Dec 19;318(6047):635–641. doi: 10.1038/318635a0. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Johnston M., Davis R. W. Sequences that regulate the divergent GAL1-GAL10 promoter in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol Cell Biol. 1984 Aug;4(8):1440–1448. doi: 10.1128/mcb.4.8.1440. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Johnston S. A., Zavortink M. J., Debouck C., Hopper J. E. Functional domains of the yeast regulatory protein GAL4. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Sep;83(17):6553–6557. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.17.6553. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Kammerer B., Guyonvarch A., Hubert J. C. Yeast regulatory gene PPR1. I. Nucleotide sequence, restriction map and codon usage. J Mol Biol. 1984 Dec 5;180(2):239–250. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(84)80002-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Keegan L., Gill G., Ptashne M. Separation of DNA binding from the transcription-activating function of a eukaryotic regulatory protein. Science. 1986 Feb 14;231(4739):699–704. doi: 10.1126/science.3080805. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Krust A., Green S., Argos P., Kumar V., Walter P., Bornert J. M., Chambon P. The chicken oestrogen receptor sequence: homology with v-erbA and the human oestrogen and glucocorticoid receptors. EMBO J. 1986 May;5(5):891–897. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1986.tb04300.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Laughon A., Driscoll R., Wills N., Gesteland R. F. Identification of two proteins encoded by the Saccharomyces cerevisiae GAL4 gene. Mol Cell Biol. 1984 Feb;4(2):268–275. doi: 10.1128/mcb.4.2.268. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Laughon A., Gesteland R. F. Primary structure of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae GAL4 gene. Mol Cell Biol. 1984 Feb;4(2):260–267. doi: 10.1128/mcb.4.2.260. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Lorch Y., Kornberg R. D. A region flanking the GAL7 gene and a binding site for GAL4 protein as upstream activating sequences in yeast. J Mol Biol. 1985 Dec 20;186(4):821–824. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(85)90400-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Miller J., McLachlan A. D., Klug A. Repetitive zinc-binding domains in the protein transcription factor IIIA from Xenopus oocytes. EMBO J. 1985 Jun;4(6):1609–1614. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1985.tb03825.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Perricaudet M., Akusjärvi G., Virtanen A., Pettersson U. Structure of two spliced mRNAs from the transforming region of human subgroup C adenoviruses. Nature. 1979 Oct 25;281(5733):694–696. doi: 10.1038/281694a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Platt T. Toxicity of 2-deoxygalactose to Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells constitutively synthesizing galactose-metabolizing enzymes. Mol Cell Biol. 1984 May;4(5):994–996. doi: 10.1128/mcb.4.5.994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Post-Beittenmiller M. A., Hamilton R. W., Hopper J. E. Regulation of basal and induced levels of the MEL1 transcript in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol Cell Biol. 1984 Jul;4(7):1238–1245. doi: 10.1128/mcb.4.7.1238. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Reddy V. B., Thimmappaya B., Dhar R., Subramanian K. N., Zain B. S., Pan J., Ghosh P. K., Celma M. L., Weissman S. M. The genome of simian virus 40. Science. 1978 May 5;200(4341):494–502. doi: 10.1126/science.205947. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Riggs A. D., Suzuki H., Bourgeois S. Lac repressor-operator interaction. I. Equilibrium studies. J Mol Biol. 1970 Feb 28;48(1):67–83. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(70)90219-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Salmeron J. M., Jr, Johnston S. A. Analysis of the Kluyveromyces lactis positive regulatory gene LAC9 reveals functional homology to, but sequence divergence from, the Saccharomyces cerevisiae GAL4 gene. Nucleic Acids Res. 1986 Oct 10;14(19):7767–7781. doi: 10.1093/nar/14.19.7767. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Scherer S., Davis R. W. Replacement of chromosome segments with altered DNA sequences constructed in vitro. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1979 Oct;76(10):4951–4955. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.10.4951. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Shaw K. J., Olson M. V. Effects of altered 5'-flanking sequences on the in vivo expression of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae tRNATyr gene. Mol Cell Biol. 1984 Apr;4(4):657–665. doi: 10.1128/mcb.4.4.657. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Shimada H., Fukasawa T. Controlled transcription of the yeast regulatory gene GAL80. Gene. 1985;39(1):1–9. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(85)90100-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Silver P. A., Keegan L. P., Ptashne M. Amino terminus of the yeast GAL4 gene product is sufficient for nuclear localization. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Oct;81(19):5951–5955. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.19.5951. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Tschopp J. F., Emr S. D., Field C., Schekman R. GAL2 codes for a membrane-bound subunit of the galactose permease in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J Bacteriol. 1986 Apr;166(1):313–318. doi: 10.1128/jb.166.1.313-318.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Walter P., Gangloff J., Bonnet J., Boulanger Y., Ebel J. P., Fasiolo F. Primary structure of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene for methionyl-tRNA synthetase. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 May;80(9):2437–2441. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.9.2437. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. Yanisch-Perron C., Vieira J., Messing J. Improved M13 phage cloning vectors and host strains: nucleotide sequences of the M13mp18 and pUC19 vectors. Gene. 1985;33(1):103–119. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(85)90120-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America are provided here courtesy of National Academy of Sciences

RESOURCES