Genome-wide analysis of transcriptional dependence and probable target sites for Abf1 and Rap1 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

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Abstract
Abf1 and Rap1 are general regulatory factors (GRFs) that contribute to transcriptional activation of a large number of genes, as well as to replication, silencing and telomere structure in yeast. In spite of their widespread roles in transcription, the scope of their functional targets genome-wide has not been previously determined. Here, we use microarrays to examine the contribution of these essential GRFs to transcription genome-wide, by using ts mutants that dissociate from their binding sites at 37°C. We then combine this data with published ChIP-chip studies and motif analysis to identify probable direct targets for Abf1 and Rap1. We also identify a substantial number of genes likely to bind Rap1 or Abf1, but not affected by loss of GRF binding. Interestingly, the results strongly suggest that Rap1 can contribute to gene activation from farther upstream than can Abf1. Also, consistent with previous work, more genes that bind Abf1 are unaffected by loss of binding than those that bind Rap1. Finally, we show for several such genes that the Abf1 C-terminal region, which contains the putative activation domain, is not needed to confer this peculiar ‘memory effect’ that allows continued transcription after loss of Abf1 binding.