title: Analysis of constitutive and noninducible mutations of the PUT3 transcriptional activator.
abstract: The Saccharomyces cerevisiae PUT3 gene encodes a transcriptional activator that binds to DNA sequences in the promoters of the proline utilization genes and is required for the basal and induced expression of the enzymes of this pathway. The sequence of the wild-type PUT3 gene revealed the presence of one large open reading frame capable of encoding a 979-amino-acid protein. The protein contains amino-terminal basic and cysteine-rich domains homologous to the DNA-binding motifs of other yeast transcriptional activators. Adjacent to these domains is an acidic domain with a net charge of -17. A second acidic domain with a net charge of -29 is located at the carboxy terminus. The midsection of the PUT3 protein has homology to other activators including GAL4, LAC9, PPR1, and PDR1. Mutations in PUT3 causing aberrant (either constitutive or noninducible) expression of target genes in this system have been analyzed. One activator-defective and seven activator-constitutive PUT3 alleles have been retrieved from the genome and sequenced to determine the nucleotide changes responsible for the altered function of the protein. The activator-defective mutation is a single nucleotide change within codon 409, replacing glycine with aspartic acid. One activator-constitutive mutation is a nucleotide change at codon 683, substituting phenylalanine for serine. The remaining constitutive mutations resulted in amino acid substitutions or truncations of the protein within the carboxy-terminal 76 codons. Mechanisms for regulating the activation function of the PUT3 protein are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Newark 07103.
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Marczak
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Brandriss
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003062:Codon / Q000235:genetics; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D005838:Genotype; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D010957:Plasmids; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics*; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D014157:Transcription Factors
chemical_list: D003062:Codon; D004271:DNA, Fungal; D005656:Fungal Proteins; C068399:PUT3 protein, S cerevisiae; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors