Identification of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae DNA-binding protein involved in transcriptional regulation

A DNA-binding protein has been identified from extracts of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae which binds to sites present in the promoter regions of a number of yeast genes transcribed by RNA polymerase II, including SIN3 (also known as SDI1), SWI5, CDC9, and TOP1. This protein also binds to a site present in the enhancer for the 35S rRNA gene, which is transcribed by RNA polymerase I, and appears to be identical to the previously described REB1 protein (B. E. Morrow, S. P. Johnson, and J. R. Warner, J. Biol. Chem. 264:9061-9068, 1989). When oligonucleotides containing a REB1-binding site are placed between the CYC1 upstream activating sequence and TATA box, transcription by RNA polymerase II in vivo is substantially reduced, suggesting that REB1 acts as a repressor of RNA polymerase II transcription. The in vitro levels of the REB1 DNA-binding activity are reduced in extracts prepared from strains bearing a mutation in the SIN3 gene. A greater reduction in REB1 activity is observed if the sin3 mutant strain is grown in media containing galactose as a carbon source.