The yeast Aft2 transcription factor determines selenite toxicity by controlling the low affinity phosphate transport system.

ABSTRACT: The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is employed as a model to study the cellular mechanisms of toxicity and defense against selenite, the most frequent environmental selenium form. We show that yeast cells lacking Aft2, a transcription factor that together with Aft1 regulates iron homeostasis, are highly sensitive to selenite but, in contrast to aft1 mutants, this is not rescued by iron supplementation. The absence of Aft2 strongly potentiates the transcriptional responses to selenite, particularly for DNA damage- and oxidative stress-responsive genes, and results in intracellular hyperaccumulation of selenium. Overexpression of PHO4, the transcriptional activator of the PHO regulon under low phosphate conditions, partially reverses sensitivity and hyperaccumulation of selenite in a way tha

SUBMITTER: Perez-Sampietro M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5020356 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature