TY - JOUR T1 - Trait specificity mediated by alternative DNA-binding preferences of a single transcription factor in yeast JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/117911 SP - 117911 AU - Michael W. Dorrity AU - Josh T. Cuperus AU - Jolie A. Carlisle AU - Stanley Fields AU - Christine Queitsch Y1 - 2017/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/03/17/117911.abstract N2 - In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and other fungal species, the decision to mate or invade relies on a shared transcription factor, Ste12. Specificity toward invasion is attributed to Ste12 binding cooperatively with the co-factor Tec1. Here, we show that single amino acid mutations in the DNA-binding domain of Ste12 suffice to shift the preference of S. cerevisiae cells toward either mating or invasion, independent of Tec1. Mutations that result in a shift toward one or the other trait define two distinct regions of this domain, implying an alternative DNA-binding mode for each trait. Using binding site library selections, we show that Ste12 variants that shift trait preference indeed favor alternative DNA-binding sites. We identify temperature-responsive Ste12 variants that promote increased invasion of S. cerevisiae only at high temperature, behavior more typical of a fungal pathogen. Lastly, we show that rare Ste12 mutations confer Hsp90-dependent mating, even though wild-type Ste12 is not an Hsp90 client. In summary, we show that flexibility at the level of Ste12 DNA-binding mediates environmentally-sensitive control of two complex traits. ER -