Transcriptional control of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae PGK gene by RAP1

Abstract

The promoter of the yeast glycolytic gene encoding phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) contains an upstream activation sequence between bases -538 and -402 upstream of the initiating ATG. The upstream activation sequence contains multiple functional elements, including an essential region called the activator core (AC) sequence and three copies of the pentamer 5'-CTTCC-3'. The AC sequence shows strong homology to the consensus binding sites for the yeast proteins RAP1 (GRF1) and TUF. We have demonstrated that the yeast protein which interacts with the AC sequence is the DNA-binding protein RAP1. Expression of the PGK gene is found to be regulated according to the carbon source in the growth medium. PGK mRNA levels are high in yeast cells grown in glucose medium but low in yeast cells grown in media containing carbon sources such as pyruvate and acetate. This carbon source regulation of transcription was found to be mediated, in part, via regulation of RAP1 binding to the AC sequence. The promoters of many other yeast glycolytic genes also contain consensus RAP1-binding sites and copies of the CTTCC pentamer. This suggests that RAP1 may be involved in transcriptional control of many other glycolytic genes in addition to the PGK gene.