The relative merits of the tetO 2 and tet O 7 promoter systems for the functional analysis of heterologous genes in yeast and a compilation of essential yeast genes with tet O 2 promoter substitutions

We have generated a collection of yeast strains, each of which has an essential yeast gene under the control of the tetracycline‐responsive, tet O, promoter. Screens using first‐generation promoter‐swap strains uncovered the non‐specific responsiveness of the tet O 7 promoter to a known human transcription factor (hIRF‐1). Non‐specific regulation was not observed with the tet O 2 promoter. Reporter assays have been used to demonstrate this phenomenon. Subsequent efforts to generate a collection of tetracycline‐regulatable strains have focused on the tet O 2 promoter. These strains are available to the yeast community and can be used for functional genomics studies. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.