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Molecular and Cellular Biology, November 2006, p. 7901-7912, Vol. 26, No. 21
0270-7306/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/MCB.01004-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Role of the Transcription Activator Ste12p as a Repressor of PRY3 Expression

Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Box 357350, Seattle, Washington 98195

Received 5 June 2006/ Returned for modification 14 July 2006/ Accepted 22 August 2006

Mating pheromone represses synthesis of full-length PRY3 mRNA, and a new transcript appears simultaneously with its 5' terminus 452 nucleotides inside the open reading frame (ORF). Synthesis of this shorter transcript results from activation of a promoter within the PRY3 locus, and its production is concomitant with the rapid disappearance of the full-length transcript. Evidence is consistent with the pheromone-induced transcription factor Ste12p binding two pheromone response elements within the PRY3 promoter, directly impeding transcription of the full-length mRNA while simultaneously inducing initiation of the short transcript. This process depends on a TATA box within the PRY3 ORF. Expression of full-length PRY3 inhibited mating, while no disadvantage was detectable for cells unable to make the short transcript. Therefore, Ste12p is utilized as a repressor of full-length PRY3 transcription, ensuring efficient mating. There is no evidence that production of the short PRY3 transcript is anything more than an adventitious by-product of this mechanism. It is possible that cryptic binding sites for transcriptional activators may occur frequently within genomes and have the potential of evolving for rapid, gene-specific repression by mechanisms analogous to PRY3. PRY3 regulation provides a model for the coordination of both inductive and repressive activities within a regulatory network.

Published ahead of print on 28 August 2006.

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