Growth-regulated formation of heteromeric complexes of the centromere and promoter factor, Cbf1p, in yeast

Abstract

Transcriptional regulation of the yeast cytochrome c ₁ gene (CYT1) in response to oxygen and carbon source is mediated by Hap1p and the Hap2 complex. Furthermore, the centromere-binding factor 1 (Cbf1p) associates with the CYT1 upstream region (UAS_CYT1), but its direct activation potential is insignificant. The possible role of Cbf1p as a modulator of transcriptional adaptation to changes in nutritional conditions was examined. In electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA) using yeast nuclear extracts, Cbf1p was found to exist as homo- and heterodimers of processed subforms of 54 and 37 kDa. An additional 18-kDa version was the only species found in anaerobic cells grown under an atmosphere of purified nitrogen, but not when CO₂ was used to establish anaerobiosis. All three dimers of the 37 and 54 kDa versions of Cbf1p that occurred in oxidatively growing cells gave rise to hetero-oligomeric complexes containing other as yet unidentified protein(s). Complex formation was not observed with extracts from cultures grown on high levels of glucose and was dependent on pre-assembly in the absence of target DNA. Pre-treatment with alkaline phosphatase enhanced formation of these higher-order complexes. The C-terminal 18-kDa segment of Cbf1p, which can undergo dimerization and bind DNA, does not induce supershifts after preincubation and is not influenced by dephosphorylation. We propose that the N-terminal domain is subject to carbon source- or growth-dependent phosphorylation/dephosphorylation events that result in differential recruitment of additional factors to promoters of genes that encode proteins required for non-fermentative growth.