Analysis of the genes activated by the FLO8 gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

It is thought that the FLO8 gene encodes a transcriptional activator of the dominant flocculation gene FLO1 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. To determine other genes which are regulated by FLO8, a detailed comparison of the transcripts from the FLO8 and Deltaflo8 strains was carried out. In addition to the FLO1 gene, it was found that transcription of the FLO11 and STA1 genes is positively regulated by FLO8. In flo8 strains, not only transcripts of the FLO11, STA1, and FLO1 genes but also invasive growth, extracellular glucoamylase production, and flocculation were undetected. From these results, it is suggested that FLO8 regulates these characteristics via the transcriptional regulation of the FLO11, STA1, and FLO1 genes.