Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1987 Apr;84(8):2401-5.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.84.8.2401.

Mutations that inactivate a yeast transcriptional regulatory protein cluster in an evolutionarily conserved DNA binding domain

M Johnston, J Dover

Mutations that inactivate a yeast transcriptional regulatory protein cluster in an evolutionarily conserved DNA binding domain

M Johnston et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1987 Apr.

Abstract

The protein encoded by the GAL4 gene of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae binds to DNA upstream of several genes and activates transcription. To try to understand these processes, we have undertaken a genetic analysis of GAL4. Here we report that nearly all missense mutations in GAL4, selected in vivo to lack function of the protein, cluster in the small region of the gene that encodes the DNA binding domain. About half of these mutations alters a cysteine-rich region of the protein highly homologous to several eukaryotic DNA binding proteins; the other half alters some of the 20 amino acids adjacent to the cysteine-rich region. Nearly all of the missense mutations that alter the DNA binding domain abolish the DNA binding activity of GAL4 protein measured in vitro. In contrast, nearly all of the mutations that alter the 3' 95% of the gene that encodes the transcription activation function are nonsense or frameshift mutations. These results support the idea that the conserved cysteine-rich sequence motif is directly involved in binding of several eukaryotic transcriptional regulatory proteins to DNA.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Mol Cell Biol. 1984 Jul;4(7):1238-45 - PubMed
    1. Genetics. 1964 May;49:837-44 - PubMed
    1. Cell. 1984 Dec;39(3 Pt 2):479-89 - PubMed
    1. J Mol Biol. 1984 Dec 5;180(2):239-50 - PubMed
    1. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 Jan;82(1):43-7 - PubMed

Publication types