Abstract
The mating type locus with two alleles (MATa and MATα) determines cell type in yeast by activating and repressing sets of cell-type-specific genes. The two genes at MATα, α1 and α2, are transcribed divergently from a central promoter region. Deletions in this intergenic region have been used to map DNA sequences involved in the transcription and regulation of the MATα genes. A single promoter region, essential for transcription of both α1 and α2, is found in the region between α1 and α2. Deletions removing the α1 or α2 TATA box are still transcribed but the transcripts fail to initiate properly. A separate regulatory region is also found between α1 and α2. Deletions of this region lead to the constitutive expression of these genes. These regulatory mutants synthesize α1 mRNA in diploids, but this is not sufficient to activate the α-specific genes.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 969-978 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Cell |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 1984 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We are grateful to Mark Zoller and Mike Smith for generously providing the sequencing primers. We thank Deborah Chaleff for help and advice and Dan Safer for assistance with the densitometry. We also thank Janet Kurjan for providing the a-factor probe, Sandy Williams and Janice Akins for typing the manuscript. This work was supported by a grant awarded to K. T. from the National Institutes of Health. P. S. was supported by an NIH predoctoral training grant. The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked “advertisement” in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.