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Query: EC:3.2.1.23 (beta-galactosidase)
 14,648 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We report the effects of a strong overexpression of the GAL4 activator protein on the expression of UASGAL regulated genes, obtained by cloning the GAL4 gene and the GAL1-10 upstream activating sequence (UASGAL)-lacZ fusion in the same high copy number plasmid. Comparable amounts of active enzyme were obtained by host strains usually producing different levels of cloned proteins due to their different genetic background. The transformed cells constitutively produced low levels of beta-galactosidase (1-2% of total proteins) both in glucose and in raffinose minimal media. Nevertheless, expression was still inducible and a tenfold induction could be rapidly obtained by the addition of 0.5% (w/v) galactose to the culture, even when glucose was still present in the medium.
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PMID:Enhanced expression of heterologous proteins by the use of a superinducible vector in budding yeast. 136 69

Induction of the lactose-galactose regulon is strongly repressed by glucose in some but not all strains of Kluyveromyces lactis. We show here that in strongly repressed strains, two to three times less Kl-GAL4 mRNA is synthesized and that expression of structural genes in the regulon such as LAC4, the structural gene for beta-galactosidase, is down regulated 40-fold or more. Comparative analysis of strains having a strong or weak repression phenotype revealed a two-base difference in the promoter of the Kl-GAL4 (also called LAC9) positive regulatory gene. This two-base difference is responsible for the strong versus the weak repression phenotype. The two base changes are symmetrically located in a DNA sequence having partial twofold rotational symmetry (14 of 21 bases). We hypothesize that this region functions as a sensitive regulatory switch, an upstream repressor sequence (URS). According to our model, the presence of glucose in the culture medium signals, by an unidentified pathway, a repressor protein to bind the URS. Binding reduces transcription of the Kl-GAL4 gene so that the concentration of the Kl-GAL4 protein falls below the level needed for induction of LAC4 and other genes in the regulon. For strains showing weak glucose repression, we hypothesize that the two base changes in the URS reduce repressor binding so that the regulon is not repressed. Our results illustrate an important principle of genetic regulation: a small (2- to 3-fold) change in the concentration of a regulatory protein can produce a large (40-fold or greater) change in expression of structural genes. This mechanism of signal amplification could play a role in many biological phenomena that require regulated transcription.
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PMID:The signal for glucose repression of the lactose-galactose regulon is amplified through subtle modulation of transcription of the Kluyveromyces lactis Kl-GAL4 activator gene. 156 29

The coregulated genes LAC4 and LAC12 encoding beta-galactosidase and lactose permease, respectively, are responsible for the ability of the milk yeast Kluyveromyces lactis to utilise lactose. They are divergently transcribed and separated by an unusually large intergenic region of 2.6 kbp. Mapping of the upstream border of the beta-galactosidase gene (LAC4) promoter by introduction of mutations at the chromosomal locus showed that LAC4 and LAC12 share the same upstream activation sites (UAS). The UASs represent binding sites for the trans-activator LAC9, a K. lactis homologue of GAL4, conforming to the consensus sequence 5'-CGG(N5)A/T(N5)CCG-3'. Two binding sites are located in front of each of the genes at almost symmetrical positions. beta-galactosidase activity measurements as well as quantitation of LAC4 and LAC12 mRNA levels demonstrated that all four sites are required for full induction. LAC4 proximal and a LAC12 proximal sites cooperate in activating transcription of both genes. These sites are more than 1.7 kbp apart and the distal site is located more than 2.3 kbp upstream of the respective start of transcription. Thus, the distance between interacting sites is larger than in any of the well characterised yeast promoters. The contribution to gene activation differs for individual binding sites and correlates with the relative affinity of LAC9 for these sites in vitro suggesting that LAC9 binding is a rate limiting step for LAC promoter function.
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PMID:Coregulation of the Kluyveromyces lactis lactose permease and beta-galactosidase genes is achieved by interaction of multiple LAC9 binding sites in a 2.6 kbp divergent promoter. 192 19

The transcriptional activator LAC9, a GAL4 homolog of Kluyveromyces lactis which mediates lactose and galactose-dependent activation of genes involved in the utilization of these sugars can also confer glucose repression to those genes. Here we report on the isolation and characterization of LAC9-2, an allele which encodes a glucose-sensitive activator in contrast to the one previously cloned. A single amino acid exchange of leu-104 to tryptophan is responsible for the glucose-insensitive phenotype. The mutation is located within the Zn-finger-like DNA binding domain which is highly conserved between LAC9 and GAL4. Glucose repression is also eliminated by duplication of the LAC9-2 allele. The data indicate that LAC9 is a limiting factor for beta-galactosidase gene expression under all growth conditions and that glucose reduces the activity of the activator.
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PMID:A mutation in the Zn-finger of the GAL4 homolog LAC9 results in glucose repression of its target genes. 210 31

Proteins destined for the nucleus contain nuclear localization sequences, short stretches of amino acids responsible for targeting them to the nucleus. We show that the first 29 amino acids of GAL4, a yeast DNA-binding protein, function efficiently as a nuclear localization sequence when fused to normally cytoplasmic invertase, but not when fused to Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase. Moreover, the nuclear localization sequence from simian virus 40 T antigen functions better when fused to invertase than when fused to beta-galactosidase. A single amino acid change in the T-antigen nuclear localization sequence inhibits the nuclear localization of simian virus 40-invertase and simian virus 40-beta-galactosidase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. From these results, we conclude that the relative ability of a nuclear localization sequence to act depends on the protein to which it is linked.
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PMID:Context affects nuclear protein localization in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. 249

In the yeast Kluyveromyces lactis the beta-galactosidase gene is induced by lactose or galactose. As shown here it can also be repressed by glucose but only in some strains. When the LAC9 gene of a repressible strain is substituted by an allele of a non-repressible strain, the beta-galactosidase gene is no longer glucose repressed. LAC9 codes for a regulatory protein homologous to GAL4 which activates transcription in the presence of the inducer. Since the LAC9 product is also present in the repressed strain and binds to DNA in vitro, as shown by DNA footprinting, glucose repression cannot be caused by repression of LAC9 gene expression. Instead, our results demonstrate that glucose repression is mediated by the LAC9 gene product, and is separable from the ability of LAC9 to activate transcription.
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PMID:Glucose repression of LAC gene expression in yeast is mediated by the transcriptional activator LAC9. 250 50

As shown previously, the beta-galactosidase gene of Kluyveromyces lactis is transcriptionally regulated via an upstream activation site (UASL) which contains a sequence homologous to the GAL4 protein-binding site in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (M. Ruzzi, K.D. Breunig, A.G. Ficca, and C.P. Hollenberg, Mol. Cell. Biol. 7:991-997, 1987). Here we demonstrate that the region of homology specifically binds a K. lactis regulatory protein. The binding activity was detectable in protein extracts from wild-type cells enriched for DNA-binding proteins by heparin affinity chromatography. These extracts could be used directly for DNase I and exonuclease III protection experiments. A lac9 deletion strain, which fails to induce the beta-galactosidase gene, did not contain the binding factor. The homology of LAC9 protein with GAL4 (J.M. Salmeron and S. A. Johnston, Nucleic Acids Res. 14:7767-7781, 1986) strongly suggests that LAC9 protein binds directly to UASL and plays a role similar to that of GAL4 in regulating transcription.
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PMID:Functional homology between the yeast regulatory proteins GAL4 and LAC9: LAC9-mediated transcriptional activation in Kluyveromyces lactis involves protein binding to a regulatory sequence homologous to the GAL4 protein-binding site. 283 Apr 92

The galactose metabolism positive regulatory gene from Kluyveromyces lactis, LAC9, has been isolated through its ability to activate expression of galactose metabolism enzyme genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The LAC9 gene also activates expression of the S. cerevisiae alpha-galactosidase (MEL1) and K. lactis beta-galactosidase (LAC4) genes in S. cerevisiae. Although LAC9-activated gene expression in K. lactis is not glucose repressed, activation of MEL1 gene expression by LAC9 in S. cerevisiae is. The LAC9 gene is expressed at an extremely low level as a approximately 2.9-kb mRNA, and encodes a protein of 865 amino acids. Although the LAC9 gene is functionally analogous to the S. cerevisiae GAL4 gene, the bulk of its protein sequence shows little homology to that of GAL4. Two of the three regions of homology that do exist, however, are restricted to areas of GAL4 protein already implicated in nuclear localization, DNA binding, and transcriptional activation.
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PMID:Analysis of the Kluyveromyces lactis positive regulatory gene LAC9 reveals functional homology to, but sequence divergence from, the Saccharomyces cerevisiae GAL4 gene. 302 34

We constructed a series of deletions in the 5' noncoding region of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae GAL7 gene, fused them to the Escherichia coli gene lacZ, and introduced them into yeasts by using a multicopy vector. We then studied the effect of the deletions on beta-galactosidase synthesis directed by the gene fusions in media with various carbon sources. This analysis identified a TATA box and two upstream activating sequences as necessary elements for galactose-controlled GAL7 transcription. Two upstream activating sequences exhibiting 71% homology with each other were located 255 and 168 base pairs, respectively, upstream of the GAL7 transcription start point. Each sequence consists of 21 base pairs, displaying an approximate rotational symmetry with a core consensus sequence of GAA--AGCTGCTTC--CGCG. At least one of the two sequences is required for galactose induction and also for glucose repression of the GAL7'-lac'Z gene. Analysis with host regulatory mutants delta gal14 and delta gal180 suggests that these sequences are the site at which the GAL4 product exerts its action to activate the GAL7 gene. We also observed that a deletion lacking both upstream activation sequences allowed the gene fusion to be expressed in the absence of galactose at about 10% of the fully induced level of the intact fusion. This constitutive expression depended on the presence of the TATA box of GAL7 in cis but not on a functional GAL4 gene. The level of the uncontrolled expression was decreased by increasing the distance between the TATA box and the pBR322 sequence in the vector plasmid.
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PMID:Duplicate upstream activating sequences in the promoter region of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae GAL7 gene. 302 25

A Kluyveromyces lactis mutant defective in lac9 cannot induce beta-galactosidase or galactokinase activity and is unable to grow on lactose or galactose. When this strain was transformed with the GAL4 positive regulatory gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae it was able to grow on lactose or galactose as the sole carbon source. Transformants bearing GAL4 exhibited a 4.5-h generation time on galactose or lactose, versus 24 h for the nontransformed lac9 strain. A K. lactis lac9 strain bearing two integrated copies of GAL4 showed 3.5-fold induction of beta-galactosidase activity and 1.8-fold induction of galactokinase activity compared with 15.6-fold and 4.4-fold induction, respectively, for the LAC9 wild-type strain. In transformants bearing 10 integrated copies of GAL4, the induced level of beta-galactosidase was nearly as high as in the LAC9 wild-type strain. In addition to restoring lactose and galactose gene expression, GAL4 in K. lactis lac9 mutant cells conferred a new phenotype, severe glucose repression of lactose and galactose-inducible enzymes. Glucose repressed beta-galactosidase activity 35- to 74-fold and galactokinase activity 14- to 31-fold in GAL4 transformants, compared with the 2-fold glucose repression exhibited in the LAC9 wild-type strain. The S. cerevisiae MEL1 gene was repressed fourfold by glucose in LAC9 cells. In contrast, the MEL1 gene in a GAL4 lac9 strain was repressed 20-fold by glucose. These results indicate that the GAL4 and LAC9 proteins activate transcription in a similar manner. However, either the LAC9 or GAL4 gene or a product of these genes responds differently to glucose in K. lactis.
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PMID:GAL4 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae activates the lactose-galactose regulon of Kluyveromyces lactis and creates a new phenotype: glucose repression of the regulon. 310 45


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