Transcription factor GCN4 for control of amino acid biosynthesis also regulates the expression of the gene for lipoamide dehydrogenase.

The yeast LPD1 gene encoding lipoamide dehydrogenase is subject to the general control of amino acid biosynthesis mediated by the GCN4 transcription factor. This is striking in that it demonstrates that GCN4-mediated regulation extends much farther upstream than simply to the direct pathways for amino acid and purine biosynthesis. In yeast, lipoamide dehydrogenase functions in at least three multienzyme complexes: pyruvate dehydrogenase and 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase (which function in the entry of pyruvate into, and metabolism via, the citric acid cycle) and glycine decarboxylase. When wild-type cells were shifted from growth on amino acid-rich to amino acid-deficient medium, the expression of lipoamide dehydrogenase was induced approx. 2-fold. In a similar experiment no such induction was observed in isogenic gcn4 mutant cells. Northern analysis indicated that amino acid starvation affected levels of the LPD1 transcript. In the upstream region of LPD1 are three matches to the consensus for control mediated by GCN4. Directed mutagenesis of each site, and of all combinations of sites, suggests that only one site might be important for the general control response under the conditions tested. Gel-retardation analysis with GCN4 protein synthesized in vitro has indicated that GCN4 can bind in vitro to at least two of the consensus motifs.

Positive regulation of the LPD1 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae by the HAP2/HAP3/HAP4 activation system.

The LPD1 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, encoding lipoamide dehydrogenase (LPDH), is subject to catabolite repression. The promoter of this gene contains a number of motifs for DNA-binding transcriptional activators, including three which show strong sequence homology to the core HAP2/HAP3/HAP4 binding motif. Here we report that transcription of LPD1 requires HAP2, HAP3 and HAP4 for release from glucose repression. In the wild-type strain, specific activity of LPDH was increased 12-fold by growth on lactate, 10-fold on glycerol and four- to five-fold on galactose or raffinose, compared to growth on glucose. In hap2, hap3 and hap4 null mutants, the specific activities of LPDH in cultures grown on galactose and raffinose showed only slight induction above the basal level on glucose medium. Similar results were obtained upon assaying for beta-galactosidase production in wild-type, or hap2, hap3 or hap4 mutant strains carrying a single copy of the LPD1 promoter fused in frame to the lacZ gene of Escherichia coli and integrated at the URA3 locus. Transcript analysis in wild-type and hap2 mutants confirmed that the HAP2 protein regulates LPD1 expression at the level of transcription in the same way as it does for the CYC1 gene. Site-directed mutagenesis of the putative HAP2/HAP3/HAP4 binding site at -204 relative to the ATG start codon showed that this element was required for full derepression of the LPD1 gene on non-fermentable substrates.