Yet1p-Yet3p interacts with Scs2p-Opi1p to regulate ER localization of the Opi1p repressor

Lipid sensing mechanisms at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) coordinate an array of biosynthetic pathways. A major phospholipid regulatory circuit in yeast is controlled by Scs2p, an ER membrane protein that binds the transcriptional repressor protein Opi1p. Cells grown in the absence of inositol sequester Scs2p-Opi1p at the ER and derepress target genes including INO1. We recently reported that Yet1p and Yet3p, the yeast homologues of BAP29 and BAP31, are required for normal growth in the absence of inositol. Here we show that the Yet1p-Yet3p complex acts in derepression of INO1 through physical association with Scs2p-Opi1p. Yet complex binding to Scs2p-Opi1p was enhanced by inositol starvation, although the interaction between Scs2p and Opi1p was not influenced by YET1 or YET3 deletion. Interestingly, live-cell imaging analysis indicated that Opi1p does not efficiently relocalize to the ER during inositol starvation in yet3Δ cells. Together our data demonstrate that a physical association between the Yet complex and Scs2p-Opi1p is required for proper localization of the Opi1p repressor to ER membranes and subsequent INO1 derepression.