Evidence for a heat shock transcription factor-independent mechanism for heat shock induction of transcription in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Transcription of the DNA damage-responsive gene, DDRA2, of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is activated by heat shock treatment as well as by mutagen/carcinogen exposure. Deletion analysis of upstream noncoding sequence indicated that sequences between approximately -190 and -140 base pairs were necessary for heat shock and DNA damage regulation of transcription. Fusion of this region to a CYC1-lacZ reporter gene demonstrated that the sequence between -202 and -165 base pairs was sufficient for basal level and heat shock-induced expression. This DNA sequence was unable to bind heat shock transcription factor as judged by binding competition experiments in vitro. These results indicate that yeast possesses a second, heat shock transcription factor-independent mechanism for activating transcription in response to thermal stress.