PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Les Grivell

Publications and source records attributed to Les Grivell.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Access for all?

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Access to Information↗

Overexpression of HAP4 in glucose-derepressed yeast cells reveals respiratory control of glucose-regulated genes.

A link between control of respiration and glucose repression in yeast is reported. The HAP4 gene was overexpressed in a Delta mig1 deletion background, generating a mutant in which respiratory function is stimulated and glucose repression is diminished. Although this combination does not result in derepression of genes encoding proteins involved in respiratory function, it nevertheless generates resistance against 2-deoxyglucose and hence contributes to more derepressed growth characteristics. Unexpectedly, overexpression of HAP4 in the Delta mig1 deletion strain causes strong repression of several target genes of the Mig1p repressor. Repression is not restricted to glucose growth conditions and does not require the glucose repressors Mig2p or Hxk2p. It was observed that expression of the SUC2 gene is transiently repressed after glucose is added to respiratory-growing Delta mig1 cells. Additional overexpression of HAP4 prevents release from this novel repressed state. The data presented show that respiratory function controls transcription of genes required for the metabolism of alternative sugars. This respiratory feedback control is suggested to regulate the feed into glycolysis in derepressed conditions.

CCAAT-Binding Factor↗

Hap4p overexpression in glucose-grown Saccharomyces cerevisiae induces cells to enter a novel metabolic state.

BACKGROUND: Metabolic and regulatory gene networks generally tend to be stable. However, we have recently shown that overexpression of the transcriptional activator Hap4p in yeast causes cells to move to a state characterized by increased respiratory activity. To understand why overexpression of HAP4 is able to override the signals that normally result in glucose repression of mitochondrial function, we analyzed in detail the changes that occur in these cells. RESULTS: Whole-genome expression profiling and fingerprinting of the regulatory activity network show that HAP4 overexpression provokes changes that also occur during the diauxic shift. Overexpression of HAP4, however, primarily acts on mitochondrial function and biogenesis. In fact, a number of nuclear genes encoding mitochondrial proteins are induced to a greater extent than in cells that have passed through a normal diauxic shift: in addition to genes required for mitochondrial energy conservation they include genes encoding mitochondrial ribosomal proteins. CONCLUSIONS: We show that overproduction of a single nuclear transcription factor enables cells to move to a novel state that displays features typical of, but clearly not identical to, other derepressed states.

CCAAT-Binding Factor↗

The yeast mitochondrial degradosome. Its composition, interplay between RNA helicase and RNase activities and the role in mitochondrial RNA metabolism.

The yeast mitochondrial degradosome (mtEXO) is an NTP-dependent exoribonuclease involved in mitochondrial RNA metabolism. Previous purifications suggested that it was composed of three subunits. Our results suggest that the degradosome is composed of only two large subunits: an RNase and a RNA helicase encoded by nuclear genes DSS1 and SUV3, respectively, and that it co-purifies with mitochondrial ribosomes. We have found that the purified degradosome has RNA helicase activity that precedes and is essential for exoribonuclease activity of this complex. The degradosome RNase activity is necessary for mitochondrial biogenesis but in vitro the degradosome without RNase activity is still able to unwind RNA. In yeast strains lacking degradosome components there is a strong accumulation of mitochondrial mRNA and rRNA precursors not processed at 3'- and 5'-ends. The observed accumulation of precursors is probably the result of lack of degradation rather than direct inhibition of processing. We suggest that the degradosome is a central part of a mitochondrial RNA surveillance system responsible for degradation of aberrant and unprocessed RNAs.

Amino Acid Sequence↗