Accurate initiation of mRNA synthesis in extracts from Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Kluyveromyces lactis and Candida glabrata.

We demonstrate the successful adaptation to other yeast species of a protocol previously described for production of transcriptionally active whole cell extracts from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Woontner and Jaehning, 1990, J. Biol. Chem. 265, 8979-8982). Extracts prepared from Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Kluyveromyces lactis and Candida glabrata were all capable of initiating transcription from a template containing the S. cerevisiae CYC1 TATA box fused to a G-less cassette. Transcription in all of the extracts was sensitive to inhibition by alpha-amanitin, indicating that it was catalysed by RNA polymerase II, and was dramatically stimulated by the chimeric activator GAL4/VP16. The different extracts used different subsets of a group of three initiation sites.