Transcriptional analysis of the yeast RAS genes in different culture conditions suggests that the inability of ras2 mutants to grow in nonfermentable carbon sources results from the regulation of RAS1 mRNA expression. The amount of RAS1 mRNA is significantly repressed in cultures grown on the nonfermentable carbon sources ethanol and acetate. As a result, low RAS function should be expressed under these conditions in a ras2 mutant. This can explain the inability of ras2- cells to grow on nonfermentable carbon sources. This interpretation is supported by the finding that an extragenic suppressor of ras2- (sra6-15), which restores growth on ethanol or acetate, also leads to an increase in the amount of RAS1 mRNA under these conditions. The sra6-15 mutation does not alter the level of RAS1 mRNA in cells grown on glucose. The pattern of transcriptional regulation described for the RAS1 gene is not shared by RAS2, indicating differential control of the functionally homologous yeast RAS genes at the level of gene expression.