Transcriptional regulation of an hsp70 heat shock gene in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae contains three heat-inducible hsp70 genes. We have characterized the promoter region of the hsp70 heat shock gene YG100, that also displays a basal level of expression. Deletion of the distal region of the promoter resulted in an 80% drop in the basal level of expression without affecting expression after heat shock. Progressive-deletion analysis suggested that sequences necessary for heat-inducible expression are more proximal, within 233 base pairs of the initiation region. The promoter region of YG100 contains multiple elements related to the Drosophila melanogaster heat shock element (HSE; CnnGAAnnT TCnnG). Deletion of a proximal promoter region containing one element, HSE2, eliminated most of the heat-inducible expression of YG100. The upstream activation site (UAS) of the yeast cytochrome c gene (CYC1) can be substituted by a single copy of HSE2 plus its adjoining nucleotides (UASHS). This hybrid promoter displayed a substantial level of expression before heat shock, and the level of expression was elevated eightfold by heat shock. YG100 sequences that flank UASHS inhibited basal expression of UASHS in the hybrid promoter but not its heat-inducible expression. This inhibition of basal UASHS activity suggests that negative regulation is involved in modulating expression of this yeast heat shock gene.     

The heat shock consensus sequence is not sufficient for hsp70 gene expression in Drosophila melanogaster.

A hybrid gene in which the expression of an Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase gene was placed under the control of a Drosophila melanogaster 70,000-dalton heat shock protein (hsp70) gene promoter was constructed. Mutant derivatives of this hybrid gene which contained promoter sequences of different lengths were prepared, and their heat-induced expression was examined in D. melanogaster and COS-1 (African green monkey kidney) cells. Mutants with 5' nontranscribed sequences of at least 90 and up to 1,140 base pairs were expressed strongly in both cell types. Mutants with shorter 5' extensions (of at least 63 base pairs) were transcribed and translated efficiently in COS-1 but not at all in D. melanogaster cells. Thus, in contrast to the situation in COS-1 cells, the previously defined heat shock consensus sequence which is located between nucleotides 62 and 48 of the hsp70 gene 5' nontranscribed DNA segment is not sufficient for the expression of the D. melanogaster gene in homologous cells. A second consensus-like element 69 to 85 nucleotides upstream from the cap site is postulated to be also involved in the heat-induced expression of the hsp70 gene in D. melanogaster cells.     

Heat shock and developmental regulation of the Drosophila melanogaster hsp83 gene.

In contrast to the hsp70 gene, whose expression is normally at a very low level and increases by more than 2 orders of magnitude during heat shock, the hsp83 gene in Drosophila melanogaster is expressed at high levels during normal development and increases only severalfold in response to heat shock. Developmental expression of the hsp83 gene consists of a high level of tissue-general, basal expression and a very high level of expression in ovaries. We identified regions upstream of the hsp83 gene that were required for its developmental and heat shock-induced expression by assaying beta-galactosidase activity and mRNA levels in transgenic animals containing a series of 5' deletion and insertion mutations of an hsp83-lacZ fusion gene. Deletion of sequences upstream of the overlapping array of a previously defined heat shock consensus (HSC) sequence eliminated both forms of developmental expression of the hsp83 gene. As a result, the hsp83 gene with this deletion mutation was regulated like that of the hsp70 gene. Moreover, an in vivo polymer competition assay revealed that the overlapping HSC sequences of the hsp83 gene and the nonoverlapping HSC sequences of the hsp70 gene had similar affinities for the factor required for heat induction of the two heat shock genes. We discuss the functional similarity of hsp70 and hsp83 heat shock regulation in terms of a revised view of the heat shock-regulatory sequence.     

Locus encoding a family of small heat shock genes in Caenorhabditis elegans: two genes duplicated to form a 3.8-kilobase inverted repeat.

The genes coding for hsp 16-48, previously identified by cDNA cloning, and for another 16-kilodalton heat shock protein designated hsp16-1 were characterized by DNA sequencing. The two genes were arranged in a head-to-head orientation. Both the coding and flanking regions were located within a 1.9-kilobase module which was duplicated exactly to form a 3.8-kilobase inverted repeat structure. The inverted repeat structure ended in an unusual guanine-plus-cytosine-rich sequence 24 nucleotides in length. The identity of the two modules at the nucleotide sequence level implies that the duplication event may have occurred recently. Alternatively, gene conversion between the two modules could also maintain homology of the two gene pairs. The small heat shock genes of Caenorhabditis elegans contained TATA boxes and heat-inducible promoters, the latter agreeing closely with the Drosophila melanogaster consensus sequence described by Pelham (Cell 30:517-528, 1982). Unlike the homologous D. melanogaster genes, each of these C. elegans genes contained a short intron, the position of which has been conserved in a related murine alpha-crystallin gene. The intron separated variable and conserved regions within the amino acid sequences of the encoded heat shock polypeptides.