Abstract
The MATα locus of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae encodes two regulatory proteins, α1 and α2, which are responsible for determining the α-cell type1–4. MATα1 is a positive regulator of α-cell-type-specific genes, and MATα2 is a negative regulator of a-cell-type-specific genes. MATα2 also determines the a/α diploid cell type, in conjunction with the MATa product, a1, by repressing haploid cell-type-specific genes2. The MATα2-encoded protein binds specifically in vitro to a DNA sequence found upstream of several a-specific genes5 and is thus thought to exert its control directly at the transcriptional level of target genes. In an initial attempt to understand the molecular basis of the interaction of α2 with DNA, we have saturated with missense mutations the segment of α2 that is weakly homologous to a conserved prokaryote DNA-binding structure6–8 and to a portion of the higher eukaryote homoeo domain9,10 to ascertain the possible functional significance of this homology in α2. We report here that most of the amino-acid residues in α 2 which correspond to conserved amino acids in the prokaryote DNA-binding proteins and in the homoeo domain are essential for the two repressor activities of α 2, that is, the repression of a-specific genes and of haploid-specific genes. Mutations in a subset of these amino-acid residues more severely affect the ability to repress a-specific genes than haploid-specific genes.
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Porter, S., Smith, M. Homoeo-domain homology in yeast MATα2 is essential for repressor activity. Nature 320, 766–768 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/320766a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/320766a0
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