The GAM1/SNF2 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae encodes a highly charged nuclear protein required for transcription of the STA1 gene.

We have cloned and sequenced the GAM1 gene which is required for transcription of the STA1 gene encoding an extracellular glucoamylase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. diastaticus. Complementation tests indicated that GAM1 is the same gene as SNF2 which is required for derepression of the SUC2 gene encoding invertase. Accumulation of SNF2 RNA was not regulated by the GAM2 and GAM3 genes which are also required for STA1 expression. The SNF2 gene was predicted to encode a 194 kDa highly charged protein with a glutamine-rich tract. A bifunctional SNF2-lacZ fusion protein was shown by immunofluorescence microscopy to be localized to the nucleus, suggesting that the SNF2 protein is located in the nucleus.