The yeast protein Xtc1 functions as a direct transcriptional repressor

The yeast protein Xtc1 was identified as a protein that binds directly and specifically to the activation domains of acidic activators such as E2F-1, Gal4 and VP16. Additionally, it was shown to co-purify with the RNA polymerase II holoenzyme complex and it was suggested that Xtc1 functions as a regulator of transcription that modulates the response of RNA polymerase II to transcriptional activators. We have further analyzed the transcription function of Xtc1 and show that its fusion to a heterologous DNA binding domain can repress transcription of a reporter gene in vivo in an Srb10/11-dependent manner. We suggest that the presence of Xtc1 in the RNA polymerase II holoenzyme could help to recruit an Srb10-active form of the holoenzyme to target promoters. This same protein has also been implicated in mitochondrial DNA recombination, maintenance and repair. Determination of the subcellular localization using a GFP-Xtc1 fusion shows that it localizes to both the nucleus and the mitochondria in vivo, which is consistent with Xtc1 having a function in both cellular compartments.