Atf1-Pcr1-M26 complex links stress-activated MAPK and cAMP-dependent protein kinase pathways via chromatin remodeling of cgs2+.

Although co-ordinate interaction between different signal transduction pathways is essential for developmental decisions, interpathway connections are often obscured and difficult to identify due to cross-talk. Here signals from the fission yeast stress-activated MAPK Spc1 are shown to regulate Cgs2, a negative regulator of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase (protein kinase A) pathway. Pathway integration is achieved via Spc1-dependent binding of Atf1-Pcr1 heterodimer to an M26 DNA site in the cgs2+ promoter, which remodels chromatin to regulate expression of cgs2+ and targets downstream of protein kinase A. This direct interpathway connection co-ordinates signals of nitrogen and carbon source depletion to affect a G0 cell-cycle checkpoint and sexual differentiation. The Atf1-Pcr1-M26 complex-dependent chromatin remodeling provides a molecular mechanism whereby Atf1-Pcr1 heterodimer can function differentially as either a transcriptional activator, or as a transcriptional repressor, or as an inducer of meiotic recombination. We also show that the Atf1-Pcr1-M26 complex functions as both an inducer and repressor of chromatin remodeling, which provides a way for various chromatin remodeling-dependent effector functions to be regulated.