Transcriptional Regulation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae Stress Responses

Saccharomyces cerevisiae orchestrates a multifaceted transcriptional response to diverse environmental stresses, including oxidative, osmotic, heat and endoplasmic reticulum perturbations. Central to this adaptation are transcription factors that detect stress signals and reprogramme gene expression. The AP-1-like family (Yap1–Yap8) constitutes a core module: Yap1 senses oxidants, undergoes intramolecular disulfide bond formation, and accumulates in the nucleus to activate antioxidant and detoxification genes. The general stress response is mediated by Msn2/4, which bind stress response elements (STREs) to induce chaperones, metabolic regulators and autophagy factors. Heat shock factor Hsf1 drives expression of protein-folding machinery under thermal stress, while Hac1 controls the unfolded protein response through endoplasmic reticulum stress-responsive elements. Chromatin remodelling, histone modifications and co-activator recruitment refine these programmes, and pathway cross-talk—for example between the high-osmolarity glycerol (HOG) signalling cascade and Msn2/4—ensures robustness and specificity. Recent genome-wide studies have delineated the architecture of stress-responsive regulons, revealing extensive promoter motif plasticity and regulatory redundancy. Insights into these networks underpin advances in yeast engineering for industrial biotechnology and suggest novel targets for antifungal intervention by exploiting stress vulnerabilities.

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Technical terms

Transcription factor: Protein that binds specific DNA sequences to regulate gene transcription.

Cis-regulatory element: Non-coding DNA region (e.g. promoter, response element) that modulates transcription factor binding and gene expression.

Regulon: Set of genes controlled by a common regulatory protein or network.

Basic leucine zipper (bZIP) domain: Protein motif combining a DNA-binding basic region with a leucine zipper for dimerisation.

Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP-seq): Technique to identify DNA sequences bound by a specific protein across the genome.

Stress response element (STRE): Short DNA motif recognised by general stress transcription factors such as Msn2/4.

References

1. Yeast AP-1 like transcription factors (Yap) and stress response: a current overview. Microbial Cell (2019).
2. Genome-Scale Screening and Combinatorial Optimization of Gene Overexpression Targets to Improve Cadmium Tolerance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Frontiers in Microbiology (2021).