The SUC2 gene produces two mRNAs with different 5' ends that encode two forms of invertase. The 1.9-kilobase mRNA encoding secreted invertase is regulated by glucose repression (carbon catabolite repression), and the 1.8-kilobase mRNA encoding intracellular invertase is produced constitutively at low levels. To identify 5' noncoding sequences essential for regulated expression of SUC2, we constructed in vitro a series of deletions and inserted them into the yeast genome at the chromosomal SUC2 locus. Analysis of the effects of each deletion on SUC2 gene expression identified an upstream region required for derepression of secreted invertase synthesis. The 3' boundary of this region is near -418. The 5' boundary does not appear to be sharply defined, but lies ca. 100 base pairs upstream. A deletion extending from -418 to -140 allowed high-level derepression, indicating that no essential sequences lie between the upstream region and the TATA box at -133 and that the upstream region can be moved 279 base pairs closer to the transcriptional start site. Interactions between the deletions and several unlinked mutations affecting the regulation of SUC2 gene expression were examined. Sequences between -1,900 and -86 are dispensable for expression of the 1.8-kilobase mRNA.