Regulation of an intergenic transcript controls adjacent gene transcription in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Abstract
Recent studies have revealed that transcription of noncoding, intergenic DNA is abundant among eukaryotes. However, the functions of this transcription are poorly understood. We have previously shown that in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, expression of an intergenic transcript, SRG1, represses the transcription of the adjacent gene, SER3, by transcription interference. We now show that SRG1 transcription is regulated by serine, thereby conferring regulation of SER3, a serine biosynthetic gene. This regulation requires Cha4, a serine-dependent activator that binds to the SRG1 promoter and is required for SRG1 induction in the presence of serine. Furthermore, two coactivator complexes, SAGA and Swi/Snf, are also directly required for activation of SRG1 and transcription interference of SER3. Taken together, our results elucidate a physiological role for intergenic transcription in the regulation of SER3. Moreover, our results demonstrate a mechanism by which intergenic transcription allows activators to act indirectly as repressors.
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Footnotes
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Supplemental material is available at http://www.genesdev.org.
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Article and publication are at http://www.genesdev.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gad.1367605.
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↵2 Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
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↵3 Present address: Laboratory of Yeast Genetics and Cell Biology, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021, USA.
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↵4 Correpsonding author.
↵4 E-MAIL winston{at}genetics.med.harvard.edu; FAX (617) 432-6506.
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- Accepted September 19, 2005.
- Received August 23, 2005.
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
