This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Zhang, Z.
Right arrow Articles by Reese, J. C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Zhang, Z.
Right arrow Articles by Reese, J. C.

Next Article 

Molecular and Cellular Biology, September 2005, p. 7399-7411, Vol. 25, No. 17
0270-7306/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/MCB.25.17.7399-7411.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Molecular Genetic Analysis of the Yeast Repressor Rfx1/Crt1 Reveals a Novel Two-Step Regulatory Mechanism

Zhengjian Zhang{dagger} and Joseph C. Reese*

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802

Received 16 May 2005/ Returned for modification 3 June 2005/ Accepted 10 June 2005

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the repressor Crt1 and the global corepressor Ssn6-Tup1 repress the DNA damage-inducible ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) genes. Initiation of DNA damage signals causes the release of Crt1 and Ssn6-Tup1 from the promoter, coactivator recruitment, and derepression of transcription, indicating that Crt1 plays a crucial role in the switch between gene repression and activation. Here we have mapped the functional domains of Crt1 and identified two independent repression domains and a region required for gene activation. The N terminus of Crt1 is the major repression domain, it directly binds to the Ssn6-Tup1 complex, and its repression activities are dependent upon Ssn6-Tup1 and histone deacetylases (HDACs). In addition, we identified a C-terminal repression domain, which is independent of Ssn6-Tup1 and HDACs and functions at native genes in vivo. Furthermore, we show that TFIID and SWI/SNF bind to a region within the N terminus of Crt1, overlapping with but distinct from the Ssn6-Tup1 binding and repression domain, suggesting that Crt1 may have activator functions. Crt1 mutants were constructed to dissect its activator and repressor functions. All of the mutants were competent for repression of the DNA damage-inducible genes, but a majority were "derepression-defective" mutants. Further characterization of these mutants indicated that they are capable of receiving DNA damage signals and releasing the Ssn6-Tup1 complex from the promoter but are selectively impaired for TFIID and SWI/SNF recruitment. These results imply a two-step activation model of the DNA damage-inducible genes and that Crt1 functions as a signal-dependent dual-transcription activator and repressor that acts in a transient manner.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Penn State University, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 203 Althouse Lab, University Park, PA 16802. Phone: (814) 865-1976. Fax: (814) 863-7024. E-mail: jcr8{at}psu.edu.

{dagger} Present address: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, U.C. Berkeley, 16 Barker Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-3204.

Molecular and Cellular Biology, September 2005, p. 7399-7411, Vol. 25, No. 17
0022-538X/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/MCB.25.17.7399-7411.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Tomar, R. S., Psathas, J. N., Zhang, H., Zhang, Z., Reese, J. C. (2009). A Novel Mechanism of Antagonism between ATP-Dependent Chromatin Remodeling Complexes Regulates RNR3 Expression. Mol. Cell. Biol. 29: 3255-3265 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hao, B., Clancy, C. J., Cheng, S., Raman, S. B., Iczkowski, K. A., Nguyen, M. H. (2009). Candida albicans RFX2 Encodes a DNA Binding Protein Involved in DNA Damage Responses, Morphogenesis, and Virulence. Eukaryot Cell 8: 627-639 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Zhang, H., Kruk, J. A., Reese, J. C. (2008). Dissection of Coactivator Requirement at RNR3 Reveals Unexpected Contributions from TFIID and SAGA. J. Biol. Chem. 283: 27360-27368 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Zhang, H., Reese, J. C. (2007). Exposing the core promoter is sufficient to activate transcription and alter coactivator requirement at RNR3. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104: 8833-8838 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Sharma, V. M., Tomar, R. S., Dempsey, A. E., Reese, J. C. (2007). Histone Deacetylases RPD3 and HOS2 Regulate the Transcriptional Activation of DNA Damage-Inducible Genes. Mol. Cell. Biol. 27: 3199-3210 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Woolstencroft, R. N., Beilharz, T. H., Cook, M. A., Preiss, T., Durocher, D., Tyers, M. (2006). Ccr4 contributes to tolerance of replication stress through control of CRT1 mRNA poly(A) tail length. J. Cell Sci. 119: 5178-5192 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»