Roles of the transcriptional regulators Fts1, YlNrg1, YlTup1, and YlSsn6 in the repression of the yeast‐to‐filament transition in the dimorphic yeast Yarrowia lipolytica

In dimorphic fungi, the yeast‐to‐filament transition critical for cell survival under nutrient starvation is controlled by both activators and repressors. However, very few filamentation repressors are known. Here we report that, in the dimorphic yeast Yarrowia lipolytica, the conserved transcription factor YlNrg1 plays a minor role whereas Fts1, a newly identified Zn(II)2Cys6 zinc cluster transcription factor, plays a key role in filamentation repression. FTS1 deletion caused hyperfilamentation whereas Fts1 overexpression drastically reduced filamentation. The expression of FTS1 is downregulated substantially during the yeast‐to‐filament transition. Transcriptome sequencing revealed that Fts1 represses 401 genes, including the filamentation‐activating transcription factor genes MHY1, YlAZF1, and YlWOR4 and key cell wall protein genes. Tup1‐Ssn6, a general transcriptional corepressor, is involved in the repression of many cellular functions in fungi. We show that both YlTup1 and YlSsn6 strongly repress filamentation in Y. lipolytica. YlTup1 and YlSsn6 together repress 1383 genes, including a large number of transcription factor and cell wall protein genes, which overlap substantially with Fts1‐repressed genes. Fts1 interacts with both YlTup1 and YlSsn6, and LexA‐Fts1 fusion represses a lexAop‐promoter‐lacZ reporter in a Tup1‐Ssn6‐dependent manner. Our findings suggest that Fts1 functions as a transcriptional repressor, directing the repression of target genes through the Tup1‐Ssn6 corepressor. We identify a novel key repressor of the yeast‐to‐filament transition, Fts1, which is a zinc cluster transcription factor, in the dimorphic yeast Yarrowia lipolytica. Fts1 recruits the Tup1‐Ssn6 corepressor to repress the filamentation‐promoting transcription factor genes MHY1, YlAZF1, and YlWOR4 as well as other filamentation‐required genes and adhesin protein genes implicated in the filamentation response.