Genetic evidence for Gln3p-independent, nitrogen catabolite repression-sensitive gene expression in Saccharomyces...

The expression of many nitrogen catabolic genes decreases to low levels when readily used nitrogen sources (e.g., asparagine and glutamine) are provided in the growth medium; this physiological response is termed nitrogen catabolite repression (NCR). Transcriptional activation of these genes is mediated by the cis-acting element UASNTR and the trans-acting factor Gln3p. A second protein encoded by URE2 possesses the genetic characteristics of a negative regulator of nitrogen catabolic gene expression. A third locus, DAL80, encodes a repressor that binds to sequences required for Gln3p-dependent transcription and may compete with Gln3p for binding to them. These observations are consistent with an NCR regulatory pathway with the structure environmental signal-->Ure2p-->(Gln3p/Dal80p)-->UASNTR operation-->NCR-sensitive gene expression. If NCR-sensitive gene expression occurs exclusively by this pathway, as has been thought to be the case, then the NCR sensitivity of a gene's expression should be abolished by a ure2 delta mutation. This expectation was not realized experimentally; the responses of highly NCR-sensitive genes to ure2 delta mutations varied widely. This suggested that NCR was not mediated exclusively through Ure2p and Gln3p. We tested this idea by assaying GAP1, CAN1, DAL5, PUT1, UGA1, and GLN1 expression in single, double, and triple mutants lacking Gln3p, Dal80p, and/or Ure2p. All of these genes were expressed in the triple mutant, and this expression was NCR sensitive for four of the six genes. These results indicate that the NCR regulatory network consists of multiple branches, with the Ure2p-Gln3p-UASNTR pathway representing only one of them.