Oxygen Regulation of the Cytochrome c Oxidase Subunit VI Gene, COX6, in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Abstract Cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is subject to intricate physiological control. Growth phase, carbon source, and oxygen level are three well recognized modulators of CcO expression. We focused on the subunit VI encoding gene, COX6, and detected unexpectedly complex oxygen regulation. We found that COX6 transcription possessed a critical threshold oxygen regulation between 0 and 2%. COX6 transcription was superinduced by elevated oxygen level up to 45%; however, superinduction was lost at 60% oxygen and above. The COX6 upstream activation region, UAS6, contains both glucose and heme responsive regions, and COX6 oxygen regulation was transduced through UAS6 by heme, as has been described for other oxygen regulated genes in yeast. We found that binding of the UAS6-domain 1 protein, BAF1, was unaltered by oxygen regulation. Nor were the alternative BAF1 complexes observed by growth in different glucose conditions formed by growth at different oxygen levels.