CORE PROMOTER ELEMENTS ARE ESSENTIAL AS SELECTIVE DETERMINANTS FOR FUNCTION OF THE YEAST TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR GAL11

The GAL11 gene product, which copurifies with RNA polymerase II holoen zyme, is necessary for full expression of many, but not all, genes in yeast, Here we shows that the GAL11 dependence of a gene for expressio n is determined by the core promoter structure, In the GAL80 gene, a g al11 null mutation caused reduction of TATA-dependent transcription, b ut exerted no effect on initiator-mediated transcription, GAL11 stimul ated TATA-dependent transcription, but did not affect the TATA-indepen dent transcription in HIS4. GAL11 was also required for transcription mediated by a canonical TATA sequence but not by a nonconsensus TATA s equence of HIS3, These results suggest that GAL11 is specifically invo lved in the transcription machinery formed on the TATA element.