Genetic control of galactokinase synthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: evidence for constitutive expression of the positive regulatory gene gal4.

Temperature-sensitive (ts) mutants for the gal80 and gal4 genes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae were isolated and characterized. These mutants were classified into two categories; one showed thermolability (TL) and the other showed temperature-sensitive synthesis (TSS) of the respective products. Both the TL and TSS gal80 mutants are constitutive for galactokinase activity at 35 degrees C and, because they are derived from a dominant super-repressible GAL80s mutant, are uninducible at 25 degrees C. Both the TL and TSS gal4 mutants are galactose negative at 35 degrees C and galactose positive at 25 degrees C. None of the ts gal4 mutations affected the thermolability of galactokinase activity in cell extracts. Induction of galactokinase activity was studied with these mutants. The results indicate that the gal80 gene codes for a repressor and the gal4 gene codes for a positive factor indispensable for the expression of the structural genes or their products. However, striking evidence that the expression of the gal4 gene is constitutive and not under the control of gal80 was provided by a kinetic study with the TL gal4 mutant. The TL gal4 mutant pregrown in glycerol nutrient medium at 35 degrees C showed a prolonged lag period (35 min) in the induction of galactokinase activity at 25 degrees C, whereas the same mutant pregrown at 25 degrees C showed the same lag period as those observed in the wild-type strain and a revertant clone derived from the TL gal4 mutant (15 min).