Increase in gene expression by respiratory-deficient mutation

Respiratory-deficient mutants (rho- cells) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae produced about 10 times as much human (h-) lysozyme as did wild-type strains (rho+ cells) when the GAL10 promoter was used in an expression plasmid with the h-lysozyme gene. Introduction of intact mitochondria into the rho- cells resulted in a significant decrease in the production of h-lysozyme, indicating that the rho- mutation increased the expression of the h-lysozyme gene. The copy number of the expression plasmid was not responsible for the increased expression. The level of h-lysozyme mRNA in the rho- cells was also much higher than that in the rho+ cells especially at the stationary phase. The increased expression of the h-lysozyme gene was also observed when a glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene promoter and the PHO5 promoter were used in the expression plasmid. The rho- mutation also increased the expression of the PHO5 gene under the control of the HIS5 promoter in a plasmid and the ACT1 gene in the yeast chromosome, but did not increase the expression of the ribosomal RNA gene. In contrast to the rho- mutants, pet mutants did not show higher gene expression compared with wild-type strains.