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The regulation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae FLO gene expression and Ca2+-dependent flocculation by Flo8p and Mss11p

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Abstract

The ability of many microorganisms to modify adhesion-related properties of their cell surface is of importance for many processes, including substrate adhesion, cell–cell adhesion, invasive growth, pathogenic behaviour and biofilm formation. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a group of structurally related, cell-wall associated proteins encoded by the FLO gene family are directly responsible for many of the cellular adhesion phenotypes displayed by this organism. Previous research has suggested that the differential transcription of FLO genes determines specific adhesion phenotypes. However, the transcriptional regulation of most FLO genes remains poorly understood. Here we show that the transcriptional activator Mss11p, which has previously been shown to be involved in the regulation of starch degradation, the formation of pseudohyphae and haploid invasive growth, also acts as a strong inducer of flocculation. The data indicate that Mss11p induces flocculation together with Flo8p, and that FLO1 is the dominant target gene of the two factors in this process. The deletion of MSS11 leads to a non-flocculent phenotype, and specific domains of Mss11p that are critical for the induction of flocculation are identified. The data clearly show that several essential transcription factors are shared by at least two flocculation genes that control different adhesion phenotypes.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Marco Gagiano for the construction of the set of plasmids containing the different truncated parts of MSS11 in vector YEpLac112, and Dewald van Dyk and Klaus Suetterlin for the construction of vectors YCpLac22-FLO8-LEU2 and YEpLac195-FLO8, respectively. This work was supported financially by the National Research Foundation (NRF), the South African Wine Industry (Winetech), and the Department of Trade and Industry’s “Technology and Human Resource for Industry Programme” (THRIP).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Wine Biotechnology, Faculty of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, Stellenbosch University, 7600, Stellenbosch, South Africa

    Michael C. Bester & Florian F. Bauer

  2. Australian Wine Research Institute, Glen Osmond, PO Box 197, 5064, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Isak S. Pretorius

Authors
  1. Michael C. Bester
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  2. Isak S. Pretorius
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  3. Florian F. Bauer
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Correspondence to Florian F. Bauer.

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Communicated by G. Braus

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Bester, M.C., Pretorius, I.S. & Bauer, F.F. The regulation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae FLO gene expression and Ca2+-dependent flocculation by Flo8p and Mss11p. Curr Genet 49, 375–383 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00294-006-0068-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00294-006-0068-z

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