Summary
Certain mutants of the yeastSaccharomyces cerevisiae show copper or cadmium resistance. Both copper- and cadmium-resistant strains produce the same metallothionein with 53 amino acid residues which causes metal detoxification by chelating copper or cadmium. The metal detoxification role is the only known function of the metallothionein in yeast. The MT is encoded by theCUP1 gene on chromosome VIII which is expressed by induction with metals. TheCUP1 is amplified to 3–14 copies with 2 kb-tandem-repeat units in the metal-resistant strains, whereas the wild-type strain contains only a single copy of theCUP1. Although transcription ofCUP1 is inducible by metals, the ACE1 protein serves a dual function as a sensor for copper and an inducer forCUP1 transcription in the copper-resistant strain. In the cadmium-resistant strain, the heat-shock factor having a point mutation may be the regulator forCUP1 transcription. Therefore, it has been clarified that production of MT in yeast in controlled by two systems, the amplification ofCUP1 and its transcriptional regulation.
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Tohoyama, H., Inouhe, M., Joho, M. et al. Production of metallothionein in copper- and cadmium-resistant strains ofSaccharomyces cerevisiae . Journal of Industrial Microbiology 14, 126–131 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01569894
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01569894