Upstream regulatory sequences of the yeast RNR2 gene include a repression sequence and an activation site that binds the RAP1 protein.

The small subunit of ribonucleotide reductase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (RNR2) was induced 3- to 20-fold by a variety of DNA-damaging agents. Induction of the RNR2 transcript by at least one of these agents, methyl methanesulfonate, did not require protein synthesis. To identify sequences involved in the regulation of RNR2, we introduced deletions upstream of the transcription start site. Sequences required for induction were contained within a 200-base-pair region that could confer methyl methanesulfonate inducibility on the heterologous CYC1 promoter. This region contained a repression sequence and at least two positive activation sites. One of these activation sites bound RAP1, a protein known to associate with mating-type silencers and the upstream activation sequences of a number of genes. The behavior of deletions of the repression sequence suggests that induction of RNR2 may occur, at least in part, through relief of repression.