The ethanol regulon in Aspergillus nidulans: characterization and sequence of the positive regulatory gene alcR

Felenbok, Béatrice; Sequeval, Daria; Mathieu, Martine; Sibley, Susan; Di, Gwynne; Davies, R. Wayne

doi:10.1016/0378-1119(88)90503-3

Cited by 79 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…This DNA-binding domain is found in a number of regulatory proteins including Gal4p (Laughon and Gesteland 1984), AlcR (Felenbok et al 1988), Ume6p (Strich et al 1994), and Nit4 (Yuan and Marzluf 1992; see Figure 2C). The highly conserved six cysteine residues bind two zinc atoms, forming a structure (Zn 2 Cys 6 ) that is required for the recognition of specific DNA sequences (Pan and Coleman 1990;Marmorstein et al 1992).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The sfgA45, sfgA44, and sfgA50 mutant alleles have missense mutations within the C6 domain that are predicted to abolish the DNA-binding ability. The sfgA45 allele has a substitution of the 40th aa Gly to Cys (sfgA G40C ), where Gly40 is just prior to the first Cys (the 41st aa), forming the zinc (Laughon and Gesteland 1984), An-AlcR (Felenbok et al 1988), Nc-Nit4 (Yuan and Marzluf 1992), and Sc-Ume6 (Strich et al 1994) is shown. The conserved six Cys residues are in boldface type and shaded (An, A. nidulans; Sc, S. cerevisiae; Nc, Neurospora crassa).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This family includes .50 and 100 different Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Sc) and A. nidulans (An) proteins, respectively. The classical examples are Sc-Gal4p and An-AlcR that activate the genes of the galactose and alcohol utilization pathway, respectively, permitting the use of galactose and alcohol as the sole source of carbon (Laughon and Gesteland 1984;Felenbok et al 1988). Biosynthesis of certain secondary metabolites including aflatoxins, sterigmatocystin (reviewed in Yu and Keller 2005), and fumonisins (Flaherty and Woloshuk 2004) is also controlled by C6 factors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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FluG-Dependent Asexual Development in Aspergillus nidulans Occurs via Derepression

Seo¹,

2006

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The asexual spore is one of the most crucial factors contributing to the fecundity and fitness of filamentous fungi. Although the developmental activator FluG was shown to be necessary for activation of asexual sporulation (conidiation) and production of the carcinogenic mycotoxin sterigmatocystin (ST) in the model filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans, the molecular mechanisms underlying the developmental switch have remained elusive. In this study, we report that the FluG-mediated conidiation in A. nidulans occurs via derepression. Suppressor analyses of fluG led to the identification of the sfgA gene encoding a novel protein with the Gal4-type Zn(II) 2 Cys 6 binuclear cluster DNA-binding motif at the N terminus. Deletion (D) and 31 other loss-of-function sfgA mutations bypassed the need for fluG in conidiation and production of ST. Moreover, both DsfgA and DsfgA DfluG mutations resulted in identical phenotypes in growth, conidiation, and ST production, indicating that the primary role of FluG is to remove repressive effects imposed by SfgA. In accordance with the proposed regulatory role of SfgA, overexpression of sfgA inhibited conidiation and delayed/reduced expression of conidiation-and STspecific genes. Genetic analyses demonstrated that SfgA functions downstream of FluG but upstream of transcriptional activators (FlbD, FlbC, FlbB, and BrlA) necessary for normal conidiation.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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FluG-Dependent Asexual Development in Aspergillus nidulans Occurs via Derepression

Seo¹,

2006

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“…This differentiates, once again, AlcR from GAL4 which synergizes transcriptional activation of structural genes under its control and is thought to result mainly from this binding cooperativity (30). The alcA promoter is one of the strongest inducible genes found in filamentous fungi (31) and is widely used for heterologous protein expression (32).…”

Section: Fig 6 Binding Properties Of Gst-alcr Fusion and His-taggedmentioning

confidence: 99%

In Vitro Recognition of Specific DNA Targets by AlcR, a Zinc Binuclear Cluster Activator Different from the Other Proteins of This Class

Lenouvel

Nikolaev

Felenbok

1997

Journal of Biological Chemistry

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AlcR is the transactivator mediating transcriptional induction of the alc gene cluster in Aspergillus nidulans. The AlcR DNA-binding domain consists of a zinc binuclear cluster different from the other members of the Zn 2 Cys 6 family by several features. In particular, it is able to bind to symmetric and asymmetric sites with the same affinity, with both sites being functional in A. nidulans. Here, we show that unlike the other proteins of the Zn 2 Cys 6 binuclear cluster family, AlcR binds most probably as a monomer to its cognate targets. Two molecules of the AlcR protein can simultaneously bind in a noncooperative manner to inverted repeats. The consensus core has been determined precisely (5 -CCGCN-3 ), and the AlcR-binding site in the aldA promoter has been localized. The sequence downstream of the zinc cluster is necessary for high affinity binding. Furthermore, our data show that the use of the carrier protein glutathione S-transferase in AlcR binding experiments introduces an important bias in the recognition of DNA sites due to its tertiary dimeric structure.

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“…Among the genes involved in regulation of specific metabolic pathways, nirA (mediating specific induction of the genes of the nitrate-assimilation pathway; Cove, 1969) and uaY belong to this class. Examples of pathway-specific regulatory genes not made in limiting amounts are alcR (Felenbok et al, 1988) and prnA (Sharma and Arst, 1985), which are involved, respectively, in ethanol and proline utilization. None of the wide-domain regulatory genes (including areA) shows the characteristics related to a strict dose effect.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mutations in a dispensable region of the UaY transcription factor of Aspergillus nidulans differentially affect the expression of structural genes

Oestreicher

Scazzocchio

Suárez

1997

Molecular Microbiology

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SummaryThe uaY gene encodes a transcriptional activator mediating uric acid induction of at least nine genes of the purine-utilization pathway. In this article, we characterize a loss-of-function mutation, uaY205, as a 16 bp deletion that results in premature translation termination, and substitutes the C-terminal 63 amino acids for 13 amino acid residues. Reversion analysis demonstrates that the C-terminal 63 amino acid residues are unnecessary for UaY function, and that the lossof-function phenotype resulting from the uaY205 mutation is caused by the new amino acid sequence present in the mutant protein. Revertants in two different frames (wild type and þ1) restore function but show subtle differences in the expression of genes controlled by the UaY protein. Two strains showing elevated expression of genes under UaY control were shown to carry, in addition to a mutation leading to the recovery of the wild-type open reading frame, mutations in unlinked genes. Using crude extracts of Aspergillus nidulans, we have been able to detect, for the first time, in transcription factors of this class, specific retardation of a promoter probe. The binding activity is at least partially dependent on the presence of inducer. The gel shift experiments show that the novel inhibitor y sequence present in the UaY205 protein can act either by affecting the stability of the protein, or via an inter-or intramolecular interaction impairing the specific DNA-binding activity.

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The ethanol regulon in Aspergillus nidulans: characterization and sequence of the positive regulatory gene alcR

Cited by 79 publications

References 36 publications

FluG-Dependent Asexual Development in Aspergillus nidulans Occurs via Derepression

FluG-Dependent Asexual Development in Aspergillus nidulans Occurs via Derepression

In Vitro Recognition of Specific DNA Targets by AlcR, a Zinc Binuclear Cluster Activator Different from the Other Proteins of This Class

Mutations in a dispensable region of the UaY transcription factor of Aspergillus nidulans differentially affect the expression of structural genes

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