Mfc1 is a meiosis-specific protein that mediates copper transport during the meiotic program in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Although the mfc1؉ gene is induced at the transcriptional level in response to copper deprivation, the molecular determinants that are required for its copper starvation-dependent induction are unknown. Promoter deletion and site-directed mutagenesis have allowed identification of a new cis-regulatory element in the promoter region of the mfc1 ؉ gene. This cis-acting regulatory sequence containing the sequence TCGGCG is responsible for transcriptional activation of mfc1 ؉ under low-copper conditions. The TCGGCG sequence contains a CGG triplet known to serve as a binding site for members of the Zn (2) Cys (