title: Differential binding of the related transcription factors Pho4 and Cbf1 can tune the sensitivity of promoters to different levels of an induction signal.
abstract: Transcription factors that belong to the same family typically have similar, but not identical, binding specificities. As such, they can be expected to compete differentially for binding to different variants of their binding sites. Pho4 is a yeast factor whose nuclear concentration is up-regulated in low phosphate, while the related factor, Cbf1, is constitutively expressed. We constructed 16 GFP-reporter genes containing all palindromic variants of the motif NNCACGTGNN, and determined their activities at a range of phosphate concentrations. Pho4 affinity did not explain expression data well except under fully induced conditions. However, reporter activity was quantitatively well explained under all conditions by a model in which Cbf1 itself has modest activating activity, and Pho4 and Cbf1 compete with one another. Chromatin immunoprecipitation and computational analyses of natural Pho4 target genes, along with the activities of the reporter constructs, indicates that genes differ in their sensitivity to intermediate induction signals in part because of differences in their affinity for Cbf1. The induction sensitivity of both natural Pho4 target genes and reporter genes was well explained only by a model that assumes a role for Cbf1 in remodeling chromatin. Our analyses highlight the importance of taking into account the activities of related transcription factors in explaining system-wide gene expression data.
authors.affiliation: Computational and Systems Biology, Genome Institute of Singapore, 60 Biopolis St., Singapore 138672, Singapore.
authors.forename: Jonathan S Z
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Aow
authors.forename: Xiaowei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.forename: Jin-Quan
authors.initials: JQ
authors.lastname: Run
authors.forename: Geoffrey F S
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Wee Siong
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Goh
authors.forename: Neil D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Clarke
mesh_terms: D051778:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D002843:Chromatin / Q000378:metabolism; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D008957:Models, Genetic; D010710:Phosphates / Q000378:metabolism; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D015533:Transcriptional Activation
chemical_list: D051778:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors; C064042:CBF1 protein, S cerevisiae; D002843:Chromatin; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C060292:PHO4 protein, S cerevisiae; D010710:Phosphates; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins
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