The SWI/SNF KlSnf2 subunit controls the glucose signaling pathway to coordinate glycolysis and glucose transport in Kluyveromyces lactis

Eukaryot Cell. 2012 Nov;11(11):1382-90. doi: 10.1128/EC.00210-12. Epub 2012 Sep 21.

Abstract

In Kluyveromyces lactis, the expression of the major glucose permease gene RAG1 is controlled by extracellular glucose through a signaling cascade similar to the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Snf3/Rgt2/Rgt1 pathway. We have identified a key component of the K. lactis glucose signaling pathway by characterizing a new mutation, rag20-1, which impairs the regulation of RAG1 and hexokinase RAG5 genes by glucose. Functional complementation of the rag20-1 mutation identified the KlSNF2 gene, which encodes a protein 59% identical to S. cerevisiae Snf2, the major subunit of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex. Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR and chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses confirmed that the KlSnf2 protein binds to RAG1 and RAG5 promoters and promotes the recruitment of the basic helix-loop-helix Sck1 activator. Besides this transcriptional effect, KlSnf2 is also implicated in the glucose signaling pathway by controlling Sms1 and KlRgt1 posttranscriptional modifications. When KlSnf2 is absent, Sms1 is not degraded in the presence of glucose, leading to constitutive RAG1 gene repression by KlRgt1. Our work points out the crucial role played by KlSnf2 in the regulation of glucose transport and metabolism in K. lactis, notably, by suggesting a link between chromatin remodeling and the glucose signaling pathway.

MeSH terms

  • Adenosine Triphosphatases / genetics
  • Adenosine Triphosphatases / metabolism
  • Biological Transport
  • Chromatin Assembly and Disassembly
  • Chromatin Immunoprecipitation
  • Cloning, Molecular
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / genetics
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / metabolism
  • Fungal Proteins / genetics
  • Fungal Proteins / metabolism
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal
  • Gene Regulatory Networks
  • Genes, Fungal
  • Genetic Complementation Test
  • Glucose / metabolism*
  • Glycolysis*
  • Kluyveromyces / enzymology
  • Kluyveromyces / genetics
  • Kluyveromyces / metabolism*
  • Mutation
  • Promoter Regions, Genetic
  • Proteolysis
  • RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional
  • RNA, Fungal / genetics
  • RNA, Fungal / metabolism
  • Repressor Proteins / genetics
  • Repressor Proteins / metabolism
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae / genetics
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae / metabolism
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / genetics
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / metabolism
  • Signal Transduction*
  • Transcription Factors / genetics
  • Transcription Factors / metabolism
  • Transcriptional Activation

Substances

  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • Fungal Proteins
  • RAG4 protein, Kluyveromyces
  • RNA, Fungal
  • Repressor Proteins
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins
  • Transcription Factors
  • Adenosine Triphosphatases
  • SNF2 protein, S cerevisiae
  • Glucose