Helmut Ruis

The HOG pathway controls osmotic regulation of transcription via the stress response element (STRE) of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae CTT1 gene.

The HOG signal pathway of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is defined by the PBS2 and HOG1 genes encoding members of the MAP kinase kinase and of the MAP kinase family, respectively. Mutations in this pathway (deletions of PBS2 or HOG1, or point mutations in HOG1) almost completely abolish the induction of transcription by osmotic stress that is mediated by stress response elements (STREs). We have demonstrated previously that STREs also mediate induction of transcription by heat shock, nitrogen starvation and oxidative stress. This study shows that they are also activated by low external pH, sorbate, benzoate or ethanol stress. Induction by these other stress signals appears to be HOG pathway independent. HOG1‐dependent osmotic induction of transcription of the CTT1 gene encoding the cytosolic catalase T occurs in the presence of a protein synthesis inhibitor and can be detected rapidly after an increase of tyrosine phosphorylation of Hog1p triggered by high osmolarity. Consistent with a role of STREs in the induction of stress resistance, a number of other stress protein genes (e.g. HSP104) are regulated like CTT1. Furthermore, catalase T was shown to be important for viability under severe osmotic stress, and heat shock was demonstrated to provide cross‐protection against osmotic stress.

A Saccharomyces cerevisiae UAS element controlled by protein kinase A activates transcription in response to a variety of stress conditions.

Transcription of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae CTT1 gene encoding the cytosolic catalase T is activated by a variety of stress conditions: it is derepressed by nitrogen starvation and induced by heat shock. Furthermore, it is activated by osmotic and oxidative stress. This study shows that a CTT1 upstream region previously found to be involved in nitrogen, cAMP and heat control (base pairs −382 to −325) contains a UAS element (STRE, −368 to −356), which is sufficient for the activation of a reporter gene by all types of stress acting on CTT1. Gel retardation experiments demonstrated the existence of a factor specifically binding to STRE, but to a lesser extent to mutated elements having partly or entirely lost the ability to mediate stress control. Heat activation of STRE, but not of a canonical heat shock element, is enhanced by a ras2 defect mutation, which enhances thermotolerance, and is dramatically reduced by a bcy1 disruption mutation, which decreases thermotolerance. It can be hypothesized, therefore, that the novel stress control element is important for the establishment of induced stress tolerance.

Osmotic Stress-Induced Gene Expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae Requires Msn1p and the Novel Nuclear Factor Hot1p

ABSTRACT After a sudden shift to high osmolarity, Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells respond by transiently inducing the expression of stress-protective genes. Msn2p and Msn4p have been described as two transcription factors that determine the extent of this response. Inmsn2 msn4 mutants, however, many promoters still show a distinct rise in transcriptional activity upon osmotic stress. Here we describe two structurally related nuclear factors, Msn1p and a newly identified protein, Hot1p (for high-osmolarity-induced transcription), which are also involved in osmotic stress-induced transcription.hot1 single mutants are specifically compromised in the transient induction of GPD1 and GPP2, which encode enzymes involved in glycerol biosynthesis, and exhibit delayed glycerol accumulation after stress exposure. Similar to agpd1 mutation, a hot1 defect can rescue cells from inappropriately high HOG pathway activity. In contrast, Hot1p has little influence on the osmotic stress induction of CTT1, where Msn1p appears to play a more prominent role. Cells lacking Msn1p, Msn2p, Msn4p, and Hot1p are almost devoid of the short-term transcriptional response of the genes GPD1,GPP2, CTT1, and HSP12 to osmotic stress. Such cells also show a distinct reduction in the nuclear residence of the mitogen-activated protein kinase Hog1p upon osmotic stress. Thus, Hot1p and Msn1p may define an additional tier of transcriptional regulators that control responses to high-osmolarity stress.

Acute glucose starvation activates the nuclear localization signal of a stress-specific yeast transcription factor

In yeast, environmental conditions control the transcription factor Msn2, the nuclear accumulation and function of which serve as a sensitive indicator of nutrient availablity and environmental stress load. We show here that the nuclear localization signal (NLS) of Msn2 is a direct target of cAMP‐dependent protein kinase (cAPK). Genetic analysis suggests that Msn2‐NLS function is inhibited by phosphorylation and activated by dephosphorylation. Msn2‐NLS function is unaffected by many stress conditions that normally induce nuclear accumulation of full‐length Msn2. The Msn2‐NLS phosphorylation status is, however, highly sensitive to carbohydrate fluctuations during fermentative growth. Dephosphorylation occurs in >2 min after glucose withdrawal but the effect is reversed rapidly by refeeding with glucose. This response to glucose depletion is due to changes in cAPK activity rather than an increase in protein phosphatase activity. Surprisingly, the classical glucose‐sensing systems are not connected to this rapid response system. Our results further imply that generic stress signals do not cause short‐term depressions in cAPK activity. They operate on Msn2 by affecting an Msn5‐dependent nuclear export and/or retention mechanism.

A search in the genome of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for genes regulated via stress response elements.

Stress response elements (STREs, core consensus AG4 or C4T) have been demonstrated previously to occur in the upstream region of a number of genes responsive to induction by a variety of stress signals. This stress response is mediated by the homologous transcription factors Msn2p and Msn4p, which bind specifically to STREs. Double mutants (msn2 msn4) deficient in these transcription factors have been shown to be hypersensitive to severe stress conditions. To obtain a more representative overview of the set of yeast genes controlled via this regulon, a computer search of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome was carried out for genes, which, similar to most known STRE‐controlled genes, exhibit at least two STREs in their upstream region. In addition to the great majority of genes previously known to be controlled via STREs, 69 open reading‐frames were detected. Expression patterns of a set of these were examined by grid filter hybridization, and 14 genes were examined by Northern analysis. Comparison of the expression patterns of these genes demonstrates that they are all STRE‐controlled although their detailed expression patterns differ considerably.

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae ADR1 gene is a positive regulator of transcription of genes encoding peroxisomal proteins.

Expression of the CTA1 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, encoding catalase A, the peroxisomal catalase of this yeast, is sensitive to glucose repression. A DNA fragment cloned as a multicopy plasmid suppressing the glucose repression of CTA1 transcription was demonstrated to contain the ADR1 gene. Multiple copies of ADR1 increased catalase A formation not only on 10% glucose, but also on ethanol medium and in the presence of oleic acid, an inducer of peroxisome proliferation. Compared with wild-type cells, adr1 null mutants produced by disruption of the gene exhibit reduced CTA1 expression. This demonstrates that ADR1 is a true positive regulator of CTA1. Further experiments showed that it acts directly on CTA1. Alcohol dehydrogenase II, which is under ADR1 control, was excluded as a mediator of the effect on CTA1; deletion of bases -123 to -168 of CTA1 reduces expression and eliminates the response to the ADR1 multicopy plasmid without eliminating fatty acid induction; and gel retardation experiments demonstrated that ADR1 binds to a CTA1 upstream fragment (-156 to -184) with limited similarity to the ADR1 binding site of ADH2. Northern hybridization experiments further demonstrated that expression of two genes encoding enzymes of peroxisomal beta-oxidation (beta-ketothiolase, trifunctional enzyme) and of a gene involved in peroxisome assembly (PAS1) is also negatively affected by the adr1 null mutation. These findings demonstrate that the ADR1 protein has much broader regulatory functions than previously recognized.

Rck2, a member of the calmodulin-protein kinase family, links protein synthesis to high osmolarity MAP kinase signaling in budding yeast

Rck2, a yeast Ser/Thr protein kinase homologous to mammalian calmodulin kinases, requires phosphorylation for activation. We provide evidence that in budding yeast, this step can be executed by the osmostress-activated mitogen-activated protein kinase Hog1. Rck2 phosphorylation was transiently increased during osmostress or in mutants with a hyperactive high osmolarity glycerol (HOG) pathway. This modification depended on catalytically active Hog1 kinase and two putative mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphorylation sites in Rck2. Immunokinase assays showed that Hog1 can directly phosphorylate Rck2 to stimulate its enzymatic activity toward translation elongation factor 2. We demonstrate that Hog1 and Rck2 are necessary for attenuation of protein synthesis in response to osmotic challenge and show that modification of elongation factor 2 induced by osmostress depends on Rck2 and Hog1 in vivo. Therefore, we propose that the transient down-regulation of protein synthesis after osmotic shock is a response not to damage but to an extracellular signal mediated by Hog1 and Rck2.

Response of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to severe osmotic stress: evidence for a novel activation mechanism of the HOG MAP kinase pathway.

The HOG/p38 MAP kinase route is an important stress‐activated signal transduction pathway that is well conserved among eukaryotes. Here, we describe a novel mechanism of activation of the HOG pathway in budding yeast. This mechanism operates upon severe osmostress conditions (1.4 M NaCl) and is independent of the Sln1p and Sho1p osmosensors. The alternative input feeds into the HOG pathway MAPKK Pbs2p and requires activation of Pbs2p by phosphorylation. We show that, upon severe osmotic shock, Hog1p nuclear accumulation and phosphorylation is delayed compared with mild stress. Moreover, both events lost their transient pattern, presumably because of the absence of negative feedback mediated by Ptp2p tyrosine phosphatase, which we found to be localized in the nucleus. Under severe osmotic stress conditions, the delayed nuclear accumulation correlates with a delay in stress‐responsive gene expression. Severe osmoshock leads to a situation in which active and nuclear‐localized Hog1p is transiently unable to induce transcription of osmotic stress‐responsive genes. It also appeared from our studies that the Sho1p osmosensor is less active under severe osmotic stress conditions, whereas the Sln1p/Ypd1p/Ssk1p sensor and signal transducer functions normally under these circumstances.

Pip2p: a transcriptional regulator of peroxisome proliferation in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, peroxisomes are the exclusive site for the degradation of fatty acids. Upon growth with the fatty acid oleic acid as sole carbon source, not only are the enzymes of beta‐oxidation and catalase A induced, but also the peroxisomal compartment as a whole increases in volume and the number of organelles per cell rises. We previously identified a cis‐acting DNA sequence [oleate response element (ORE)] involved in induction of genes encoding peroxisomal proteins. The aim of our investigation was to test whether a single mechanism acting via the ORE coordinates the events necessary for the proliferation of an entire organelle. Here we report the cloning and characterization of the oleate‐specific transcriptional activator protein Pip2p (pip: peroxisome induction pathway). Pip2p contains a typical Zn(2)‐Cys(6) cluster domain and binds to OREs. A pip2 deletion strain is impaired in growth on oleate as sole carbon source and the induction of beta‐oxidation enzymes is abolished. Moreover, only a few, small peroxisomes per cell can be detected. These results indicate that fatty acids activate Pip2p, which in turn activates the transcription of genes encoding beta‐oxidation components and acts as the crucial activator of peroxisomes.

NEGATIVE REGULATION OF TRANSCRIPTION OF THE SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE CATALASE T (CTT1) GENE BY CAMP IS MEDIATED BY A POSITIVE CONTROL ELEMENT

Transcription of the CTT1 (catalase T) gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is controlled by oxygen via heme, by nutrients via cAMP and by heat shock. Nitrogen limitation triggers a rapid, cycloheximide‐insensitive derepression of the gene. Residual derepression in a cAMP‐nonresponsive mutant with attenuated protein kinase activity (bcy1 tpk1w tpk2 tpk3) demonstrates the existence of an alternative, cAMP‐independent nutrient signaling mechanism. Deletion analysis using CTT1‐lacZ fusion genes revealed the contribution of multiple control elements to derepression, not all of which respond to the cAMP signal. A positive promoter element responding to negative control by cAMP was inactivated by deletion of a DNA region between base pairs ‐340 and ‐364. Upstream fragments including this element confer negative cAMP control to a LEU2‐lacZ fusion gene. Northern analysis of CTT1 expression in the presence or absence of heme, in RAS2+ (high cAMP) and ras2 mutant (low cAMP) strains and in cells grown at low temperature (23 degrees C) and in heat‐shocked cells (37 degrees C) shows that CTT1 is only induced to an appreciable extent when at least two of the three factors contributing to its expression (oxidative stress signaled by heme, nutrient starvation (low cAMP) and heat stress) activate the CTT1 promoter.