Molecular Characterization of Two High Affinity Sulfate Transporters in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Strains resistant to the toxic analogues of sulfate, selenate and chromate have been isolated. Their genetic analysis allowed us to identify four genes. One, called MET28, encodes a transcriptional factor. The three other genes, called SUL1, SUL2 and SUL3, encode proteins involved in sulfate transport. The sequence of Sul1p and Sul2p indicate that they are integral membrane proteins exhibiting, respectively, 11 and 10 transmembrane domains. Moreover, Sul1p and Sul2p share a high degree of similarity. Sulfate transport kinetic studies made with parental and mutant strains show that, as expected from genetic results, Saccharomyces cerevisiae has two high affinity sulfate transport systems. Sul3p has been shown to be involved in the transcriptional regulation of the SUL2 gene.