A gut2 mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is deficient in the mitochondrial glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenase and hence cannot utilize glycerol. Upon transformation of a gut2 mutant strain with a low-copy yeast genomic library, hybrid plasmids were isolated which complemented the gut2 mutation. The nucleotide sequence of a 3.2 kb PstI-XhoI fragment complementing a gut2 mutant strain is presented. The fragment reveals an open reading frame (ORF) encoding a polypeptide with a predicted molecular weight of 68.8 kDa. Disruption of the ORF leads to a glycerol non-utilizing phenotype. A putative flavin-binding domain, located at the amino terminus, was identified by comparison with the amino acid sequences of other flavoproteins. The cloned gene has been mapped both physically and genetically to the left arm of chromosome IX, where the original gut2 mutation also maps. We conclude that the presented ORF is the GUT2 gene and propose that it is the structural gene for the mitochondrial glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenase.

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae glycerol utilization is mediated by two enzymes, glycerol kinase (Gut1p) and mitochondrial glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (Gut2p). The carbon source regulation of GUT1 was studied using promoter-reporter gene fusions. The promoter activity was lowest during growth on glucose and highest on the non-fermentable carbon sources, glycerol, ethanol, lactate, acetate and oleic acid. Mutational analysis of the GUT1 promoter region showed that two upstream activation sequences, UAS(INO) and UAS(ADR1), are responsible for approximately 90% of the expression during growth on glycerol. UAS(ADR1) is a presumed binding site for the zinc finger transcription factor Adr1p and UAS(INO) is a presumed binding site for the basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors Ino2p and Ino4p. In vitro experiments showed Adr1 and Ino2/Ino4 protein-dependent binding to UAS(ADR1) and UAS(INO). The negative regulator Opi1p mediates repression of the GUT1 promoter, whereas the effects of the glucose repressors Mig1p and Mig2p are minor. Together, the experiments show that GUT1 is carbon source regulated by different activation and repression systems.

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Cytosolic glycerol kinase (Gut1p) and mitochondrial glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (Gut2p) constitute the glycerol utilization pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Transcriptional analysis of the GUT2 gene showed that it was repressed by glucose and derepressed on the non-fermentable carbon sources, glycerol, lactate and ethanol. Derepression of GUT2 requires the protein kinase Snflp as well as the heteromeric protein complex, Hap2/3/4/5, and its putative DNA-binding site (UASHAP) located in the promoter region. Furthermore, glucose repression of GUT2 requires the negative regulator, Opi1p.

The MIG1 gene was disrupted in a haploid laboratory strain (B224) and in an industrial polyploid strain (DGI 342) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The alleviation of glucose repression of the expression of MAL genes and alleviation of glucose control of maltose metabolism were investigated in batch cultivations on glucose-maltose mixtures. In the MIG1-disrupted haploid strain, glucose repression was partly alleviated; i.e., maltose metabolism was initiated at higher glucose concentrations than in the corresponding wild-type strain. In contrast, the polyploid ⌬mig1 strain exhibited an even more stringent glucose control of maltose metabolism than the corresponding wild-type strain, which could be explained by a more rigid catabolite inactivation of maltose permease, affecting the uptake of maltose. Growth on the glucose-sucrose mixture showed that the polyploid ⌬mig1 strain was relieved of glucose repression of the SUC genes. The disruption of MIG1 was shown to bring about pleiotropic effects, manifested in changes in the pattern of secreted metabolites and in the specific growth rate.