Molecular analysis of nuc-1⁺, a gene controlling phosphorus acquisition in Neurospora crassa

In response to phosphorus starvation, Neurospora crassa makes several enzymes that are undetectable or barely detectable in phosphate-sufficient cultures. The nuc-1⁺ gene, whose product regulates the synthesis of these enzymes, was cloned and sequenced. The nuc-1⁺ gene encodes a protein of 824 amino acids with a predicted molecular weight of 87,429. The amino acid sequence shows homology with two yeast proteins whose functions are analogous to that of the NUC-1 protein. Two nuc-1⁺ transcripts of 3.2 and 3.0 kilobases were detected; they were present in similar amounts during growth at low or high phosphate concentrations. The nuc-2⁺ gene encodes a product normally required for NUC-1 function, and yet a nuc-2 mutation can be complemented by overexpression of the nuc-1⁺ gene. This implies physical interactions between NUC-1 protein and the negative regulatory factor(s) PREG and/or PGOV. Analysis of nuc-2 and nuc-1; nuc-2 strains transformed by the nuc-1⁺ gene suggests that phosphate directly affects the level or activity of the negative regulatory factor(s) controlling phosphorus acquisition.