Three subunits of the RNA polymerase II mediator complex are involved in glucose repression.

Glucose triggers a complex response in yeast which includes induction and repression of a large number of genes. Glucose repression is in part mediated by the Mig1 repressor, a zinc finger protein that binds to the promoters of many glucose repressed genes. However, some genes that are required for gluconeogenic growth are also repressed by a Mig1-independent mechanism. We have isolated mutations in three genes that are involved in this Mig1-independent component of repression and cloned the genes by complementation. All three genes encode subunits of the recently discovered RNA polymerase II mediator complex. Two of them are yeast cyclin C and its associated kinase. Disruptions of the three genes have identical phenotypes with respect to glucose repression and show no synergism with each other. This suggests that these three subunits of the mediator complex function closely together in transmitting the transcriptional response to glucose.