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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2004, p. 8-17, Vol. 70, No. 1
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.1.8-17.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae JEN1 Promoter Activity Is Inversely Related to Concentration of Repressing Sugar

Prima Chambers, Aminatu Issaka, and Sean P. Palecek^*

Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706

Received 17 March 2003/ Accepted 1 October 2003

When carbon sources are changed, Saccharomyces cerevisiae transcriptional patterns drastically change. To identify genes whose transcription can be used to quantitatively measure sugar concentrations, we searched genomic expression databases for a set of genes that are highly induced during the diauxic shift, and we used the promoters from these genes to drive expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP). Certain sugars, including glucose, fructose, and mannose, repress the promoter of JEN1, which encodes a lactate-pyruvate transporter, in a dose-dependent manner. Nonrepressing carbon sources include galactose, raffinose, ethanol, lactate, and glycerol. JEN1 promoter activity is a linear function of glucose concentration when organisms are grown at a steady-state glucose concentration below 1 g/liter. JEN1 promoter repression is specific to carbon source; heat or cold shock, osmotic stress, DNA damage, and nitrogen starvation do not significantly affect promoter activity. Activation of the JEN1 promoter requires the Snf1 protein kinase, but multiple regulatory elements most likely combine to provide the linear relationship between JEN1 promoter activity and sugar concentration. Thus, a JEN1 promoter-reporter system appears to provide a good living cell biosensor for the concentration of certain sugars. The JEN1 promoter also permits quantitative regulation of cellular functions not normally controlled by sugar concentrations. For example, a strain expressing FLO1 under control of the JEN1 promoter flocculates at a low glucose concentration.

Present address: The Coca-Cola Company, Atlanta, GA 30313.

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