  We propose a scenario of gauge-string correspondence by relating the SU(3)
colour group to hidden space-time isometries originating from extra dimensions.
These isometries ($\alpha$-symmetries) are the special symmetries of RNS
superstring theories under global non-linear space-time transformations. The
vertex operators for the octet of gluons are constructed by the procedure of
``photon painting'', that is, with the SU(3) subgroup of the $\alpha$-symmetry
generators acting on a regular open string photon, so the corresponding open
string excitations are in the adjoint of SU(3). Remarkably, the operator
algebra of these massless gluon vertices is closed and possesses the full
zigzag symmetry, crucial for the isomorphism between open strings and QCD. As a
result, the scattering amplitudes of the constructed open string vertex
operators have a field-theoretic rather than a stringy structure, including the
absense of standard tower of massive intermediate states.Our model also
suggests that the total number of underlying hidden dimensions is three, with
each extra dimension carrying its appropriate SU(3) colour and anticolour.
