ATP-binding Cassette Transporter-encoding Gene Research Articles

Transcriptome Analysis of mfs2-Defective Penicillium digitatum Mutant to Reveal Importance of Pdmfs2 in Developing Fungal Prochloraz Resistance.

Demethylation inhibitors (DMIs), including prochloraz, are popular fungicides to control citrus postharvest pathogens such as Penicillium digitatum (green mold). However, many P. digitatum strains have developed prochloraz resistance, which decreases drug efficacy. Specific major facilitator superfamily (MFS) transporter gene mfs2, encoding drug-efflux pump protein MFS2, has been identified in P. digitatum strain F6 (PdF6) to confer fungal strain prochloraz resistance. However, except for the drug-efflux pump function of MFS2, other mechanisms relating to the Pdmfs2 are not fully clear. The present study reported a transcriptome investigation on the mfs2-defective P. digitatum strain. Comparing to the wild-type strain, the mfs2-defective strain showed 717 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) without prochloraz induction, and 1221 DEGs with prochloraz induction. The obtained DEGs included multiple isoforms of MFS transporter-encoding genes, ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter-encoding genes, and multidrug and toxic compound extrusion (MATE) family protein-encoding genes. Many of these putative drug-efflux pump protein-encoding genes had significantly lower transcript abundances in the mfs2-defective P. digitatum strain at prochloraz induction, as compared to the wild-type strain, including twenty-two MFS transporter-encoding genes (MFS1 to MFS22), two ABC transporter-encoding genes (ABC1 and ABC2), and three MATE protein-encoding genes (MATE1 to MATE3). The prochloraz induction on special drug-efflux pump protein genes in the wild-type strain was not observed in the mfs2-defective strain, including MFS21, MFS22, ABC2, MATE1, MATE2, and MATE3. On the other hand, the up-regulation of other drug-efflux pump protein genes in the mfs2-defective strain cannot recover the fungal prochloraz resistance, including MFS23, MFS26, MFS27, MFS31, MFS33, and ABC3 to ABC8. The functional enrichment of DEGs based on Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), Clusters of Orthologous Groups (COG), and euKaryotic Orthologous Groups (KOG) database resources suggested some essential contributors to the mfs2-relating prochloraz resistance, including ribosome biosynthesis-related genes, oxidative phosphorylation genes, steroid biosynthesis-related genes, fatty acid and lipid metabolism-related genes, and carbon- and nitrogen-metabolism-related genes. The results indicated that the MFS2 transporter might be involved in the regulation of multiple drug-efflux pump protein gene expressions and multiple metabolism-related gene expressions, thus playing an important role in developing P. digitatum prochloraz resistance.

Multidrug resistance of Botrytis cinerea associated with its adaptation to plant secondary metabolites.

Fungicides are an effective way to control gray mold of grapes, but the pathogen Botrytis cinerea can develop resistance, overcoming the effectiveness of a fungicide that is repeatedly applied. More importantly, the emergence of multidrug resistance (MDR) in the field, where multiple fungicides with different modes of action simultaneously lose their efficacies, is a significant concern. MDR is associated with ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters of the pathogen, and certain plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) stimulate the upregulation of ABC transporters, we hypothesized that the pathogen's preadaptation to PSMs might contribute to MDR development. To test this in B. cinerea, ten PSMs, namely, resveratrol, reserpine, chalcone, flavanone, eugenol, farnesol, anethene, camptothecin, salicylic acid, and psoralen, were selected based on their association with ABC transporters involved in fungicide resistance. B. cinerea strain B05.10 was continuously transferred for 15 generations on potato dextrose agar amended with a PSM (PDAP), and sensitivities to PSMs and fungicides were examined on the 5th, 10th, and 15th generations. RNA was extracted from B. cinerea from the selected generations. After 15 generations of culture transfers, an up-regulation was observed in the expression of ABC transporter-encoding genes BcatrB, BcatrD, and BcatrK using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). This upregulation was found to contribute to MDR of B. cinerea against two or more fungicides, among azoxystrobin, boscalid, fludioxonil, difenoconazole, prochloraz, and pyrimethanil. This finding was confirmed through genetic transformation. The decreased sensitivity of B. cinerea to fungicides was confirmed as a subsequent MDR phenotype after exposure to camptothecin, flavanone, and resveratrol. Besides, transcriptome analysis also revealed the upregulation of transcription factors related to ABC expression following resveratrol exposure. This suggests that PSMs contributed to inducing preadaptation of B. cinerea, leading to subsequent MDR.IMPORTANCEThe emergence of MDR in plant pathogens is a threat to plant disease management and leads to the use of excessive fungicides. Botrytis cinerea is of particular concern because its MDR has widely emerged in the field. Understanding its genesis is the first step for controlling MDR. In this study, the contribution of PSMs to MDR has been examined. Effective management of this pathogen in agroecosystems relies on a better understanding of how it copes with phytochemicals or fungicides.

Multidrug resistance of Rhizoctonia solani determined by enhanced efflux for fungicides

Plant pathogens can develop multidrug resistance (MDR) through metabolomic and efflux activities. Although MDR has been observed in the field, its mechanisms are yet to be further studied. MDR in Rhizoctonia solani induced by the uncoupler SYP-14288, which involved efflux transporters including ATP binding cassette (ABC) and major facilitator superfamily (MFS) have been reported in our previous study. To confirm this, corresponding genes of the wild-type R. solani X19 and its derived MDR mutant X19–7 were compared through transcriptomics, RNA-Seq data validation, and heterologous expression. Genes encoding six ABC transporters and seven MFS transporters were identified to be associated with MDR and mostly showed a constitutively higher expression in X19–7 than in X19 regardless of SYP-14288 treatment. Eight ABC transporter-encoding genes and eight MFS transporter-encoding genes were further characterized by transferring into Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The sensitivity of transformants containing either ABC transporter-encoding gene AG1IA_06082 and MFS transporter-encoding gene AG1IA_08645 was significantly decreased in responses to fungicides having various modes of action including SYP-14288, fluazinam, chlorothalonil, and difenoconazole, indicating that these two genes were related to MDR. The roles of two genes were further confirmed by successfully detecting their protein products and high accumulation of SYP-14288 in yeast transformants. Thus, ABC and MFS transporters contributed to the development of MDR in R. solani. The result helps to understand the cause and mechanisms that influence the efficient use of fungicide.

Negative regulation of Candida glabrata Pdr1 by the deubiquitinase subunit Bre5 occurs in a ubiquitin independent manner

The primary route for development of azole resistance in the fungal pathogen Candida glabrata is acquisition of a point mutation in the PDR1 gene. This locus encodes a transcription factor that upon mutation drives high level expression of a range of genes including the ATP-binding cassette transporter-encoding gene CDR1. Pdr1 activity is also elevated in cells that lack the mitochondrial genome (ρ° cells), with associated high expression of CDR1 driving azole resistance. To gain insight into the mechanisms controlling activity of Pdr1, we expressed a tandem affinity purification (TAP)-tagged form of Pdr1 in both wild-type (ρ+ ) and ρ° cells. Purified proteins were analyzed by multidimensional protein identification technology mass spectrometry identifying a protein called Bre5 as a factor that co-purified with TAP-Pdr1. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Bre5 is part of a deubiquitinase complex formed by association with the ubiquitin-specific protease Ubp3. Genetic analyses in C. glabrata revealed that loss of BRE5, but not UBP3, led to an increase in expression of PDR1 and CDR1 at the transcriptional level. These studies support the view that Bre5 acts as a negative regulator of Pdr1 transcriptional activity and behaves as a C. glabrata-specific modulator of azole resistance.

Awake1, an ABC-Type Transporter, Reveals an Essential Role for Suberin in the Control of Seed Dormancy.

The mother plant plays an important dynamic role in the control of dormancy of her progeny seed in response to environmental signals. In order to further understand the mechanisms by which this dormancy control takes place in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), we conducted a forward genetic screen to isolate mutants that fail to enter dormancy in response to variation in temperature during seed set. We show that, for the first of these mutants, designated awake1, the maternal allele is required for entry into strongly dormant states and that awake1 mutants show seed phenotypes shown previously to be associated with the loss of suberin in the seed. We identify awake1 as an allele of ABCG20, an ATP-binding cassette transporter-encoding gene required for the transport of fatty acids during suberin deposition, and show that further suberin-deficient mutants have seed dormancy defects. Seed coat suberin composition is affected by temperature during seed maturation, but this response appears to be independent of ABCG20. We conclude that seed coat suberin is essential for seed dormancy imposition by low temperature and that the exclusion of oxygen and water from the seed by the suberin and tannin layers is important for dormancy imposition.

Contributions of Aspergillus fumigatus ATP-Binding Cassette Transporter Proteins to Drug Resistance and Virulence

In yeast cells such as those of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, expression of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter proteins has been found to be increased and correlates with a concomitant elevation in azole drug resistance. In this study, we investigated the roles of two Aspergillus fumigatus proteins that share high sequence similarity with S. cerevisiae Pdr5, an ABC transporter protein that is commonly overproduced in azole-resistant isolates in this yeast. The two A. fumigatus genes encoding the ABC transporters sharing the highest sequence similarity to S. cerevisiae Pdr5 are called abcA and abcB here. We constructed deletion alleles of these two different ABC transporter-encoding genes in three different strains of A. fumigatus. Loss of abcB invariably elicited increased azole susceptibility, while abcA disruption alleles had variable phenotypes. Specific antibodies were raised to both AbcA and AbcB proteins. These antisera allowed detection of AbcB in wild-type cells, while AbcA could be visualized only when overproduced from the hspA promoter in A. fumigatus. Overproduction of AbcA also yielded increased azole resistance. Green fluorescent protein fusions were used to provide evidence that both AbcA and AbcB are localized to the plasma membrane in A. fumigatus. Promoter fusions to firefly luciferase suggested that expression of both ABC transporter-encoding genes is inducible by azole challenge. Virulence assays implicated AbcB as a possible factor required for normal pathogenesis. This work provides important new insights into the physiological roles of ABC transporters in this major fungal pathogen.

Regulation of the CgPdr1 Transcription Factor from the Pathogen Candida glabrata

Candida glabrata is an opportunistic human pathogen that is increasingly associated with candidemia, owing in part to the intrinsic and acquired high tolerance the organism exhibits for the important clinical antifungal drug fluconazole. This elevated fluconazole resistance often develops through gain-of-function mutations in the zinc cluster-containing transcriptional regulator C. glabrata Pdr1 (CgPdr1). CgPdr1 induces the expression of an ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter-encoding gene, CgCDR1. Saccharomyces cerevisiae has two CgPdr1 homologues called ScPdr1 and ScPdr3. These factors control the expression of an ABC transporter-encoding gene called ScPDR5, which encodes a homologue of CgCDR1. Loss of the mitochondrial genome (ρ(0) cell) or overexpression of the mitochondrial enzyme ScPsd1 induces ScPDR5 expression in a strictly ScPdr3-dependent fashion. ScPdr3 requires the presence of a transcriptional Mediator subunit called Gal11 (Med15) to fully induce ScPDR5 transcription in response to ρ(0) signaling. ScPdr1 does not respond to either ρ(0) signals or ScPsd1 overproduction. In this study, we employed transcriptional fusions between CgPdr1 target promoters, like CgCDR1, to demonstrate that CgPdr1 stimulates gene expression via binding to elements called pleiotropic drug response elements (PDREs). Deletion mapping and electrophoretic mobility shift assays demonstrated that a single PDRE in the CgCDR1 promoter was capable of supporting ρ(0)-induced gene expression. Removal of one of the two ScGal11 homologues from C. glabrata caused a major defect in drug-induced expression of CgCDR1 but had a quantitatively minor effect on ρ(0)-stimulated transcription. These data demonstrate that CgPdr1 appears to combine features of ScPdr1 and ScPdr3 to produce a transcription factor with chimeric regulatory properties.

Differential Roles of Transcriptional Mediator Subunits in Regulation of Multidrug Resistance Gene Expression inSaccharomyces cerevisiae

The multiprotein transcriptional Mediator complex provides a key link between RNA polymerase II and upstream transcriptional activator proteins. Previous work has established that the multidrug resistance transcription factors Pdr1 and Pdr3 interact with the Mediator component Med15/Gal11 to drive normal levels of expression of the ATP-binding cassette transporter-encoding gene PDR5 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. PDR5 transcription is induced upon loss of the mitochondrial genome (rho(0) cells) and here we provide evidence that this rho(0) induction is Med15 independent. A search through other known Mediator components determined that Med12/Srb8, a member of the CDK8 Mediator submodule, is required for rho(0) activation of PDR5 transcription. The CDK8 submodule contains the cyclin C homologue (CycC/Srb11), cyclin-dependent kinase Cdk8/Srb10, and the large Med13/Srb9 protein. Loss of these other proteins did not lead to the same block in PDR5 induction. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses demonstrated that Med15 is associated with the PDR5 promoter in both rho(+) and rho(0), whereas Med12 recruitment to this target promoter is highly responsive to loss of the mitochondrial genome. Coimmunoprecipitation experiments revealed that association of Pdr3 with Med12 can only be detected in rho(0) cells. These experiments uncover the unique importance of Med12 in activated transcription of PDR5 seen in rho(0) cells.

The ABC transporter-encoding geneAFR1affects the resistance ofCryptococcus neoformansto microglia-mediated antifungal activity by delaying phagosomal maturation

The pathogenic yeast Cryptococcus neoformans has evolved several strategies to survive within phagocytes. Recently, it has been demonstrated that upregulation of the ATP binding cassette transporter-encoding gene antifungal resistance 1 (AFR1) is important not only for determining the resistance of C. neoformans to fluconazole but also in influencing fungal virulence. In the present study, we showed that the fluconazole-resistant AFR1-overexpressing mutant strain was not sensitive to microglia-mediated anticryptococcal activity, as compared with the fluconazole-susceptible isogenic strains, the wild type and the afr1Delta mutant. Interestingly, although the three strains were phagocytosed to a similar extent, reduced acidification and delayed maturation were observed in phagosomes containing the AFR1-overexpressing strain with respect to the others. These findings provide the first evidence that upregulation of the AFR1 gene affects C. neoformans-microglia interplay, adding insights to the complexity of cryptococcal virulence and to its unexpected link with azole resistance.

Negative Transcriptional Regulation of Multidrug Resistance Gene Expression by an Hsp70 Protein

One of the most common origins of multidrug resistance occurs via the overproduction of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter proteins. These ABC transporters then act as broad specificity drug pumps and efflux a wide range of toxic agents out of the cell. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae exhibits multiple or pleiotropic drug resistance (Pdr) often through the over-production of a plasma membrane-localized ABC transporter protein called Pdr5p. Expression of the PDR5 gene is controlled by two zinc cluster-containing transcription factors called Pdr1p and Pdr3p. Cells that lack their mitochondrial genome (rho(0) cells) strongly induce PDR5 transcription in a Pdr3p-dependent fashion. To identify proteins associated with Pdr3p that might act to regulate this factor, a tandem affinity purification (TAP) moiety was fused to Pdr3p, and this recombinant protein was purified from yeast cells. The cytosolic Hsp70 chaperone Ssa1p co-purified with TAP-Pdr3p. Overexpression of Ssa1p repressed expression of PDR5 but had no effect on expression of other genes involved in the Pdr phenotype. This Ssa1p-mediated repression required the presence of Pdr3p and did not influence Pdr1p-dependent gene expression. Loss of the nucleotide exchange factor Fes1p mimicked Ssa1p-mediated repression of PDR5. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments indicated that Ssa1p was associated with Pdr3p but not Pdr1p in yeast cells. Finally, rho(0) cells had less Ssa1p bound to Pdr3p than rho(+) cells, consistent with Ssa1p-mediated repression of Pdr3p activity serving as a key regulatory step in control of multidrug resistance in yeast.

Role of AFR1 , an ABC Transporter-Encoding Gene, in the In Vivo Response to Fluconazole and Virulence of Cryptococcus neoformans

We have recently demonstrated that upregulation of the ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporter-encoding gene AFR1 in Cryptococcus neoformans is involved in the in vitro resistance to fluconazole of this yeast. In the present study, we investigated the role of AFR1 in the in vivo response to fluconazole in a mouse model of systemic cryptococcosis. Mice were infected with a wild-type fluconazole-susceptible strain of C. neoformans, strain BPY22; an afr1 mutant, BPY444, which displayed hypersusceptibility to fluconazole in vitro; or an AFR1-overexpressing strain, BPY445, which exhibited in vitro resistance to the drug. In each of the three groups, infected animals were randomly assigned to fluconazole treatment or untreated-control subgroups. As expected, fluconazole prolonged survival and reduced fungal tissue burdens (compared with no treatment) in BPY22- and BPY444-infected mice, whereas it had no significant effects in mice infected with BPY445. When the pathogenicities of these strains in mice were investigated, strain BPY445 was significantly more virulent than BPY22 following inhalational or intravenous inoculation, but mice infected with BPY444 survived significantly longer than BPY22-infected animals only when infection was acquired via the respiratory tract. In in vitro macrophage infection studies, strain BPY445 also displayed enhanced intracellular survival compared with strains BPY22 and BPY444, suggesting that its increased virulence may be due to its reduced vulnerability to the antimicrobial factors produced by phagocytic cells. These findings indicate that the upregulation of the AFR1 gene is an important factor in either determining the in vivo resistance to fluconazole or influencing the virulence of C. neoformans.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae Multidrug Resistance Gene Expression Inversely Correlates with the Status of the F0Component of the Mitochondrial ATPase

Loss of the mitochondrial genome (rho(0) cell) or elimination of the mitochondrial inner membrane protein Oxa1p causes a dramatic increase in expression of the ATP binding cassette transporter-encoding gene PDR5 in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This increase in gene expression occurs via activation of the function of the Cys(6)-Zn(II)(2) cluster transcription factor Pdr3p, which in turn autoregulates expression of its structural gene. Surprisingly, the acquisition of PDR5-dependent multidrug resistance occurs at a very high frequency, consistent with the appearance of rho(-) cells in a fermentatively growing culture (approximately 2%). The degree of activation of Pdr3p target genes was found to vary considerably and to be influenced by the presence of the homologous protein, Pdr1p. Mutagenesis and overexpression studies provided evidence that the control of Pdr3p expression was the major control point of this transcription factor by mitochondrial retrograde signaling. Because both rho(0) and oxa1 mutant cells have multiple defects including loss of normal respiratory chain function and oxidative phosphorylation, a series of mutant strains with more selective defects in mitochondrial function was employed to identify the molecular signal that triggers PDR5 transcriptional activation. Only mutations that influenced the functional status of the F(0) subunit of the mitochondrial ATPase were found to lead to activation of PDR5 expression.

The ABC Transporter BcatrB Affects the Sensitivity of Botrytis cinerea to the Phytoalexin Resveratrol and the Fungicide Fenpiclonil

During pathogenesis, fungal pathogens are exposed to a variety of fungitoxic compounds. This may be particularly relevant to Botrytis cinerea, a plant pathogen that has a broad host range and, consequently, is subjected to exposure to many plant defense compounds. In practice, the pathogen is controlled with fungicides belonging to different chemical groups. ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters might provide protection against plant defense compounds and fungicides by ATP-driven efflux mechanisms. To test this hypothesis, we cloned BcatrB, an ABC transporter-encoding gene from B. cinerea. This gene encodes a 1,439 amino acid protein with nucleotide binding fold (NBF) and transmembrane (TM) domains in a [NBF-TM6]2 topology. The amino acid sequence has 31 to 67% identity with ABC transporters from various fungi. The expression of BcatrB is up regulated by treatment of B. cinerea germlings with the grapevine phytoalexin resveratrol and the fungicide fenpiclonil. BcatrB replacement mutants are not affected in saprophytic growth on different media but are more sensitive to resveratrol and fenpiclonil than the parental isolate. Furthermore, virulence of deltaBcatrB mutants on grapevine leaves was slightly reduced. These results indicate that BcatrB is a determinant in sensitivity of B. cinerea to plant defense compounds and fungicides.

Cross-talk between Transcriptional Regulators of Multidrug Resistance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Multiple or pleiotropic drug resistance often arises in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae due to genetic alterations of the functional state of the Cys(6)-Zn(II)(2) transcription factors Pdr1p and Pdr3p. Single amino acid substitutions give rise to hyperactive forms of these regulatory proteins, which in turn cause overproduction of downstream target genes that directly mediate multidrug resistance. Previous work has identified a novel Cys(6)-Zn(II)(2) transcription factor designated Yrr1p as mutant forms of this protein confer high level resistance to the cell cycle inhibitor reveromycin A and DNA damaging agent 4-nitroquinoline-N-oxide. In the present study, we demonstrate that Yrr1p also mediates oligomycin resistance through activation of the ATP-binding cassette transporter-encoding gene YOR1. Additionally, insertion of triplicated copies of the hemagglutinin epitope in the C-terminal region of Yrr1p causes the protein to behave as a hyperactive regulator of transcription. We have found that YRR1 expression is both controlled in a Pdr1p/Pdr3p-dependent manner and autoregulated. Chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments also show that Yrr1p associates with target promoters in vivo. Together these data argue that the signal generated by activation of Pdr1p and/or Pdr3p can be amplified through the action of these transcriptional regulatory proteins on downstream target genes, like YRR1, that also encode transcription factors.

Multiple Signals from Dysfunctional Mitochondria Activate the Pleiotropic Drug Resistance Pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Multiple or pleiotropic drug resistance most often occurs in Saccharomyces cerevisiae due to substitution mutations within the Cys(6)-Zn(II) transcription factors Pdr1p and Pdr3p. These dominant transcriptional regulatory proteins cause elevated drug resistance and overexpression of the ATP-binding cassette transporter-encoding gene, PDR5. We have carried out a genetic screen to identify negative regulators of PDR5 expression and found that loss of the mitochondrial genome (rho(o) cells) causes up-regulation of Pdr3p but not Pdr1p function. Additionally, loss of the mitochondrial inner membrane protein Oxa1p generates a signal that results in increased Pdr3p activity. Both of these mitochondrial defects lead to increased expression of the PDR3 structural gene. Importantly, the signaling pathway used to enhance Pdr3p function in rho(o) cells is not the same as in oxa1 cells. Loss of previously described nuclear-mitochondrial signaling genes like RTG1 reduce the level of PDR5 expression and drug resistance seen in rho(o) cells but has no effect on oxa1-induced phenotypes. These data uncover a new regulatory pathway connecting expression of multidrug resistance genes with mitochondrial function.

Regulation of transcription factor Pdr1p function by an Hsp70 protein in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Multiple or pleiotropic drug resistance in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae requires the expression of several ATP binding cassette transporter-encoding genes under the control of the zinc finger-containing transcription factor Pdrlp. The ATP binding cassette transporter-encoding genes regulated by Pdrlp include PDR5 and YOR1, which are required for normal cycloheximide and oligomycin tolerances, respectively. We have isolated a new member of the PDR gene family that encodes a member of the Hsp70 family of proteins found in this organism. This gene has been designated PDR13 and is required for normal growth. Overexpression of Pdr13p leads to an increase in both the expression of PDR5 and YOR1 and a corresponding enhancement in drug resistance. Pdr13p requires the presence of both the PDR1 structural gene and the Pdr1p binding sites in target promoters to mediate its effect on drug resistance and gene expression. A dominant, gain-of-function mutant allele of PDR13 was isolated and shown to have the same phenotypic effects as when the gene is present on a 2microm plasmid. Genetic and Western blotting experiments indicated that Pdr13p exerts its effect on Pdr1p at a posttranslational step. These data support the view that Pdr13p influences pleiotropic drug resistance by enhancing the function of the transcriptional regulatory protein Pdr1p.

Divergent Transcriptional Control of Multidrug Resistance Genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Improper control of expression of ATP binding cassette transporter-encoding genes is an important contributor to acquisition of multidrug resistance in human tumor cells. In this study, we have analyzed the function of the promoter region of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae YOR1 gene, which encodes an ATP binding cassette transporter protein that is required for multidrug tolerance in S. cerevisiae. Deletion analysis of a YOR1-lacZ fusion gene defines three important transcriptional regulatory elements. Two of these elements serve to positively regulate expression of YOR1, and the third element is a negative regulatory site. One positive element corresponds to a Pdr1p/Pdr3p response element, a site required for transcriptional control by the homologous zinc finger transcription factors Pdr1p and Pdr3p in other promoters. The second positive element is located between nucleotides -535 and -299 and is referred to as UASYOR1 (where UAS is upstream activation sequence). Interestingly, function of UASYOR1 is inhibited by the downstream negative regulatory site. Promoter fusions constructed between UASYOR1 and the PDR5 promoter, another gene under Pdr1p/Pdr3p control, are active, whereas analogous promoter fusions constructed with the CYC1 promoter are not. This suggests the possibility that UASYOR1 has promoter-specific sequence requirements that are satisfied by another Pdr1p/Pdr3p-regulated gene but not by a heterologous promoter.

Expression of an ATP-Binding Cassette Transporter-Encoding Gene (YOR1) Is Required for Oligomycin Resistance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Semidominant mutations in the PDR1 or PDR3 gene lead to elevated resistance to cycloheximide and oligomycin. PDR1 and PDR3 have been demonstrated to encode zinc cluster transcription factors. Cycloheximide resistance mediated by PDR1 and PDR3 requires the presence of the PDR5 membrane transporter-encoding gene. However, PDR5 is not required for oligomycin resistance. Here, we isolated a gene that is necessary for PDR1- and PDR3-mediated oligomycin resistance. This locus, designated YOR1, causes a dramatic elevation in oligomycin resistance when present in multiple copies. A yor1 strain exhibits oligomycin hypersensitivity relative to an isogenic wild-type strain. In addition, loss of the YOR1 gene blocks the elevation in oligomycin resistance normally conferred by mutant forms of PDR1 or PDR3. The YOR1 gene product is predicted to be a member of the ATP-binding cassette transporter family of membrane proteins. Computer alignment indicates that Yor1p shows striking sequence similarity with multidrug resistance-associated protein, Saccharomyces cerevisiae Ycf1p, and the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator. Use of a YOR1-lacZ fusion gene indicates that YOR1 expression is responsive to PDR1 and PDR3. While PDR5 expression is strictly dependent on the presence of PDR1 or PDR3, control of YOR1 expression has a significant PDR1/PDR3-independent component. Taken together, these data indicate that YOR1 provides the link between transcriptional regulation by PDR1 and PDR3 and oligomycin resistance of yeast cells.

Cadmium tolerance mediated by the yeast AP-1 protein requires the presence of an ATP-binding cassette transporter-encoding gene, YCF1.

Elevations in gene dosage of the transcriptional regulatory protein yAP-1 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae can elicit pronounced phenotypic increases in tolerance of a variety of drugs including the toxic heavy metal cadmium. While a large elevation in cadmium tolerance occurs in response to overproduction of yAP-1, the target genes under yAP-1 control have not yet been identified that are responsible for this increase. We show here that the YCF1 gene, encoding a likely integral membrane protein, is required for yAP-1 to exert its normal effects on cadmium tolerance. Mutant strains of yeast that lack the YCF1 gene are hypersensitive to cadmium and this hypersensitivity is epistatic to yAP-1 overexpression. YCF1 mRNA levels and the expression of a YCF1-lacZ reporter construct positively correlates with changes in YAP1 gene dosage. A set of 5' truncation derivatives of the YCF1-lacZ fusion gene identified the region from -201 to +47 as being sufficient for the yAP-1-dependent increase in expression. DNase I footprinting using a probe from this segment of the YCF1 promoter showed that bacterially-produced yAP-1 protein was capable of binding a novel DNA element we have designated the yAP-1 response element. Insertion of the yAP-1 response element upstream of a CYC1-lacZ gene fusion led to the production of beta-galactosidase in a yAP-1-dependent fashion. These data establish that an important physiological target of yAP-1 transcriptional regulation is the YCF1 structural gene.