Differential regulation of Tec1 by Fus3 and Kss1 confers signaling specificity in yeast development

Transcriptional regulation by mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase signaling cascades is a major control mechanism for eukaryotic development. In budding yeast, Fus3 and Kss1 are two MAP kinases that control two distinct developmental programs-mating and invasive growth. We investigated whether signal-specific activation of mating and invasive growth involves regulation of the transcription factor Tec1 by Fus3 and Kss1. We present evidence that, during mating, Fus3 phosphorylates Tec1 to downregulate this invasive growth-specific transcription factor and its target genes. This function of Fus3 is essential for correct execution of the mating program and is not shared by Kss1. We find that Kss1 controls the activity of Tec1 mainly during invasive growth by control of TEC1 gene expression. Our study suggests that signaling specificity can arise from differential regulation of a single transcription factor by two MAP kinases with shared functions in distinct developmental programs.