DNA Binding and Telomere Length Regulation of Yeast RAP1 Homologues

The repressor activator protein 1 (RAP1) has many important functions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. At the chromosome ends, it is a negative regulator of telomere length. Here, we show that Saccharomyces castellii/Saccharomyces dairensis telomeric sequences inserted into a S. cerevisiae telomere are counted as part of the telomere, consistent with the presence of high-affinity Rap1p binding sites within these sequences. We show that S. castellii Rap1p (scasRap1p) can regulate telomere length in a S. cerevisiae strain, albeit less stringently. Cloning of the S. dairensis RAP1 homologue (sdaiRAP1) revealed that it encodes the largest RAP1 protein identified to date. Despite its large size, binding analyses of the recombinant sdaiRap1p revealed that the protein binds with the same spacing and with similar affinity to yeast telomeric sequences, as the scer- and scasRAP1 proteins. According to the Rap1p counting model for telomere length regulation, a low density of Rap1p binding sites in a telomere would result in a longer telomere in S. cerevisiae. We have compared the lengths of two individual S. dairensis telomeres and find that their lengths are not regulated to give the same number of high-affinity binding sites. This may be due to other factors than Rap1p having influence on the telomere length regulation.