Nuclear response regulator and transcription factor; physically interacts with the Tup1-Cyc8 complex and recruits Tup1p to its targets; part of a branched two-component signaling system; required for optimal induction of heat-shock genes in response to oxidative stress; involved in osmoregulation; relocalizes to the cytosol in response to hypoxia; SKN7 has a paralog, HMS2, that arose from the whole genome duplication