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Ume6, the DNA-binding subunit of a repression/activation complex, coregulates a large set of metabolic and meiotic genes

Roy M. Williams*, Michael Primig*, Brian Washburn*, Elisabeth A. Winzeler, Michel Bellis, Cyril Sarrauste de Menthière, Ronald W. Davis and Rochelle E. Esposito
*These authors contributed equally to this study

Move your cursor over the images to display a model showing derepression of early meiotic genes during mitotic growth in a ume6 deletion mutant.

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. (2002). Pubmed Full text PDF 
 
The Ume6 transcription factor in yeast is known to both repress and activate expression of diverse genes during growth and meiotic development. To obtain a more complete profile of the functions regulated by this protein, microarray analysis was used to examine transcription in wild type and ume6 deletion diploids during vegetative growth in glucose and acetate. Two different genetic backgrounds (W303 and SK1) were examined to identify a core set of strain-independent Ume6-regulated genes. Among genes whose expression is controlled by Ume6 in both backgrounds, 82 contain homologies to the Ume6-binding site (URS1) and are expected to be directly regulated by Ume6. The vast majority of those whose functions are known participate in carbon/nitrogen metabolism or meiosis. Approximately half of the Ume6 direct targets are induced during meiosis, with most falling into the early meiotic expression class (cluster 4), and a smaller subset in the middle and later classes (clusters 5-7). Based on these data, we propose that Ume6 serves a unique role in diploid cells, coupling metabolic responses to nutritional cues with the initiation and progression of meiosis. Finally, expression patterns in the two genetic backgrounds suggest that SK1 is better adapted to respiration and W303 to fermentation, which may in part account for the more efficient and synchronous sporulation of SK1.
The Ume6 expression data is now available via GermOnline. Use the "search by genes" option to access the gene information page. Follow the [more] link in the expression data section.