Response to arsenic stress in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

ITQB PhD Seminar

Title: Response to arsenic stress in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Speaker: Catarina Amaral

Laboratory: Genomic and Stress

Abstract

Arsenic is a metalloid which overexposure cause several malignancies such as vascular diseases and cancers. In the Genomics and Stress Laboratory we take advantage of the simple eukaryotic model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to understand the mechanisms of arsenic adaptation. We showed that tolerance to arsenic compounds in S. cerevisiae is mediated by the transcriptional activation of ACR2 and ACR3, encoding an arsenate reductase and an arsenite extrusion pump, and that the transcription factor Yap8 is the key regulator of this response. Our results point toward a conserved activation mechanism with Yap1, the prototype member of the YAP family of b-ZIP regulators. Using genetic and molecular approaches we are currently investigating the Yap8 DNA binding specificities and the mechanism by which it transduces the stress signal to the basal transcription machinery.

CV

2002 - Graduated as Biochemist in Universidade do Porto
2002 to 2004 – Research student at Genomics and Stress Laboratory
2004 - PhD student at Genomics and Stress Laboratory