Expression of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae inositol-1-phosphate synthase (INO1) gene is regulated by factors that affect phospholipid synthesis.

The INO1 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae encodes the regulated enzyme inositol-1-phosphate synthase, which catalyzes the first committed step in the synthesis of inositol-containing phospholipids. The expression of this gene was analyzed under conditions known to regulate phospholipid synthesis. RNA blot hybridization with a genomic clone for INO1 detected two RNA species of 1.8 and 0.6 kb. The abundance of the 1.8-kb RNA was greatly decreased when the cells were grown in the presence of the phospholipid precursor inositol, as was the enzyme activity of the synthase. Complementation analysis showed that this transcript encoded the INO1 gene product. The level of INO1 RNA was repressed 12-fold when the cells were grown in medium containing inositol, and it was repressed 33-fold when the cells were grown in the presence of inositol and choline together. The INO1 transcript was present at a very low level in cells containing mutations (ino2 and ino4) in regulatory genes unlinked to INO1 that result in inositol auxotrophy. The transcript was constitutively overproduced in cells containing a mutation (opi1) that causes constitutive expression of inositol-1-phosphate synthase and results in excretion of inositol. The expression of INO1 RNA was also examined in cells containing a mutation (cho2) affecting the synthesis of phosphatidylcholine. In contrast to what was observed in wild-type cells, growth of cho2 cells in medium containing inositol did not result in a significant decrease in INO1 RNA abundance. Inositol and choline together were required for repression of the INO1 transcript in these cells, providing evidence for a regulatory link between the synthesis of inositol- and choline-containing lipids. The level of the 0.6-kb RNA was affected, although to a lesser degree, by many of the same factors that influence INO1 expression.