title: Functional analysis of TamA, a coactivator of nitrogen-regulated gene expression in Aspergillus nidulans.
abstract: The tam A gene of Aspergillus nidulans encodes a 739-amino acid protein with similarity to Uga35p/Dal81p/DurLp of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It has been proposed that TamA functions as a co-activator of AreA, the major nitrogen regulatory protein in A. nidulans. Because AreA functions as a transcriptional activator under nitrogen-limiting conditions, we investigated whether TamA was also present in the nucleus. We found that a GFP-TamA fusion protein was predominantly localised to the nucleus in the presence and absence of ammonium, and that AreA was not required for this distribution. As the predicted DNA-binding domain of TamA is not essential for function, we have used a number of approaches to further define functionally important regions. We have cloned the tamA gene of A. oryzae and compared its functional and sequence characteristics with those of A. nidulans tamA and S. cerevisiae UGA35/DAL81/DURL. The Aspergillus homologues are highly conserved and functionally interchangeable, whereas the S. cerevisiae gene does not complement a tamA mutant when expressed in A. nidulans. Uga35p/Dal81p/DurLp was also found to be unable to recruit AreA. The sequence changes in a number of tamA mutant alleles were determined, and altered versions of TamA were tested for tamA complementation and interaction with AreA. Changes in most regions of TamA appeared to destroy its function, suggesting that the overall conformation of the protein may be critical for its activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Small
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Todd
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Zanker
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Delimitrou
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Hynes
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Davis
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001233:Aspergillus nidulans / Q000235:genetics*; D001236:Aspergillus oryzae / Q000235:genetics; D001665:Binding Sites; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D011485:Protein Binding; D011487:Protein Conformation; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013045:Species Specificity; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000502:physiology; D014170:Transformation, Genetic
chemical_list: C079045:AmdR protein, Aspergillus nidulans; C079728:AreA protein, Aspergillus nidulans; D004271:DNA, Fungal; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; C099751:TamA protein, Aspergillus nidulans; D014157:Transcription Factors; D009584:Nitrogen