Reciprocal Regulation of Anaerobic and Aerobic Cell Wall Mannoprotein Gene Expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

ABSTRACT The DAN/TIR genes encode nine cell wall mannoproteins in Saccharomyces cerevisiae which are expressed during anaerobiosis ( DAN1 , DAN2 , DAN3 , DAN4 , TIR1 , TIR2 , TIR3 , TIR4 , and TIP1 ). Most are expressed within an hour of an anaerobic shift, but DAN2 and DAN3 are expressed after about 3 h. At the same time, CWP1 and CWP2 , the genes encoding the major mannoproteins, are down-regulated, suggesting that there is a programmed remodeling of the cell wall in which Cwp1 and Cwp2 are replaced by nine anaerobic counterparts. TIP1 , TIR1 , TIR2 , and TIR4 are also induced during cold shock. Correspondingly, CWP1 is down-regulated during cold shock. As reported elsewhere, Mox4 is a heme-inhibited activator, and Mot3 is a heme-induced repressor of the DAN/TIR genes (but not of TIP1 ). We show that CWP2 (but not CWP1 ) is controlled by the same factors, but in reverse fashion—primarily by Mot3 (which can function as either an activator or repressor) but also by Mox4, accounting for the reciprocal regulation of the two groups of genes. Disruptions of TIR1 , TIR3 , or TIR4 prevent anaerobic growth, indicating that each protein is essential for anaerobic adaptation. The Dan/Tir and Cwp proteins are homologous, with the greatest similarities shown within three subgroups: the Dan proteins, the Tip and Tir proteins, and, more distantly, the Cwp proteins. The clustering of homology corresponds to differences in expression: the Tip and Tir proteins are expressed during hypoxia and cold shock, the Dan proteins are more stringently repressed by oxygen and insensitive to cold shock, and the Cwp proteins are oppositely regulated by oxygen and temperature.