Cellular Differentiation in Response to Nutrient Availability: The Repressor of Meiosis, Rme1p, Positively Regulates Invasive Growth in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Corresponding author: Florian F. Bauer, Department of Viticulture and Oenology, University of Stellenbosch, Matieland 7602, South Africa., fb2{at}sun.ac.za (E-mail)

Communicating editor: A. MITCHELL

In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the transition from a nutrient-rich to a nutrient-limited growth medium typically leads to the implementation of a cellular adaptation program that results in invasive growth and/or the formation of pseudohyphae. Complete depletion of essential nutrients, on the other hand, leads either to entry into a nonbudding, metabolically quiescent state referred to as G₀ in haploid strains or to meiosis and sporulation in diploids. Entry into meiosis is repressed by the transcriptional regulator Rme1p, a zinc-finger-containing DNA-binding protein. In this article, we show that Rme1p positively regulates invasive growth and starch metabolism in both haploid and diploid strains by directly modifying the transcription of the FLO11 (also known as MUC1) and STA2 genes, which encode a cell wall-associated protein essential for invasive growth and a starch-degrading glucoamylase, respectively. Genetic evidence suggests that Rme1p functions independently of identified signaling modules that regulate invasive growth and of other transcription factors that regulate FLO11 and that the activation of FLO11 is dependent on the presence of a promoter sequence that shows significant homology to identified Rme1p response elements (RREs). The data suggest that Rme1p functions as a central switch between different cellular differentiation pathways.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. R. Barrales, J. Jimenez, and J. I. Ibeas Identification of Novel Activation Mechanisms for FLO11 Regulation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae Genetics, January 1, 2008; 178(1): 145 - 156. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. M. Dranginis, J. M. Rauceo, J. E. Coronado, and P. N. Lipke A Biochemical Guide to Yeast Adhesins: Glycoproteins for Social and Antisocial Occasions Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev., June 1, 2007; 71(2): 282 - 294. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L.-C. Lai, A. L. Kosorukoff, P. V. Burke, and K. E. Kwast Metabolic-State-Dependent Remodeling of the Transcriptome in Response to Anoxia and Subsequent Reoxygenation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Eukaryot. Cell, September 1, 2006; 5(9): 1468 - 1489. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. van Dyk, I. S. Pretorius, and F. F. Bauer Mss11p Is a Central Element of the Regulatory Network That Controls FLO11 Expression and Invasive Growth in Saccharomyces cerevisiae Genetics, January 1, 2005; 169(1): 91 - 106. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]