scholarly journals Phylogenetic and comparative functional analysis of the cell-separation α-glucanase Agn1p in Schizosaccharomyces

Microbiology ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 160 (6) ◽  
pp. 1063-1074 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Sipiczki ◽  
Anita Balazs ◽  
Aniko Monus ◽  
Laszlo Papp ◽  
Anna Horvath ◽  
...  

The post-cytokinetic separation of cells in cell-walled organisms involves enzymic processes that degrade a specific layer of the division septum and the region of the mother cell wall that edges the septum. In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the 1,3-α-glucanase Agn1p, originally identified as a mutanase-like glycoside hydrolase family 71 (GH71) enzyme, dissolves the mother cell wall around the septum edge. Our search in the genomes of completely sequenced fungi identified GH71 hydrolases in Basidiomycota, Taphrinomycotina and Pezizomycotina, but not in Saccharomycotina. The most likely Agn1p orthologues in Pezizomycotina species are not mutanases having mutanase-binding domains, but experimentally non-characterized hypothetical proteins that have no carbohydrate-binding domains. The analysis of the GH71 domains corroborated the phylogenetic relationships of the Schizosaccharomyces species determined by previous studies, but suggested a closer relationship to the Basidiomycota proteins than to the Ascomycota proteins. In the Schizosaccharomyces genus, the Agn1p proteins are structurally conserved: their GH71 domains are flanked by N-terminal secretion signals and C-terminal sequences containing the conserved block YNFNAY/HTG. The inactivation of the agn1Sj gene in Schizosaccharomyces japonicus, the only true dimorphic member of the genus, caused a severe cell-separation defect in its yeast phase, but had no effect on the hyphal growth and yeast-to-mycelium transition. It did not affect the mycelium-to-yeast transition either, only delaying the separation of the yeast cells arising from the fragmenting hyphae. The heterologous expression of agn1Sj partially rescued the separation defect of the agn1Δ cells of Schizosaccharomyces pombe. The results presented indicate that the fission yeast Agn1p 1,3-α-glucanases of Schizosaccharomyces japonicus and Schizosaccharomyces pombe share conserved functions in the yeast phase.

2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 1650-1660 ◽  
Author(s):  
Encarnación Dueñas-Santero ◽  
Ana Belén Martín-Cuadrado ◽  
Thierry Fontaine ◽  
Jean-Paul Latgé ◽  
Francisco del Rey ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT In yeast, enzymes with β-glucanase activity are thought to be necessary in morphogenetic events that require controlled hydrolysis of the cell wall. Comparison of the sequence of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae exo-β(1,3)-glucanase Exg1 with the Schizosaccharomyces pombe genome allowed the identification of three genes that were named exg1 + (locus SPBC1105.05), exg2 + (SPAC12B10.11), and exg3 + (SPBC2D10.05). The three proteins have different localizations: Exg1 is secreted to the periplasmic space, Exg2 is a membrane protein, and Exg3 is a cytoplasmic protein. Characterization of the biochemical activity of the proteins indicated that Exg1 and Exg3 are active only against β(1,6)-glucans while no activity was detected for Exg2. Interestingly, Exg1 cleaves the glucans with an endohydrolytic mode of action. exg1 + showed periodic expression during the cell cycle, with a maximum coinciding with the septation process, and its expression was dependent on the transcription factor Sep1. The Exg1 protein localizes to the septum region in a pattern that was different from that of the endo-β(1,3)-glucanase Eng1. Overexpression of Exg2 resulted in an increase in cell wall material at the poles and in the septum, but the putative catalytic activity of the protein was not required for this effect.


2003 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 510-520 ◽  
Author(s):  
Quan-Wen Jin ◽  
Dannel McCollum

ABSTRACT Cytokinesis in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe is regulated by a signaling pathway termed the septation initiation network (SIN). The SIN is essential for initiation of actomyosin ring constriction and septum formation. In a screen to search for mutations that can rescue the sid2-250 SIN mutant, we obtained scw1-18. Both the scw1-18 mutant and the scw1 deletion mutant (scw1Δ mutant), have defects in cell separation. Both the scw1-18 and scw1Δ mutations rescue the growth defects of not just the sid2-250 mutant but also the other temperature-sensitive SIN mutants. Other cytokinesis mutants, such as those defective for actomyosin ring formation, are not rescued by scw1Δ. scw1Δ does not seem to rescue the SIN by restoring SIN signaling defects. However, scw1Δ may function downstream of the SIN to promote septum formation, since scw1Δ can rescue the septum formation defects of the cps1-191β-1,3-glucan synthase mutant, which is required for synthesis of the primary septum.


1985 ◽  
Vol 226 (1) ◽  
pp. 259-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Voigt

The culture medium of growing Chlamydomonas reinhardii cells contains hydroxyproline-rich glycoproteins, which are mainly liberated during release of the zoospores from the mother-cell wall. Pulse-labelling studies with [3H]proline and [35S]methionine have been performed in order to detect the protein components released by synchronously growing cells at different stages of the cell cycle. When either [3H]proline or [35S]methionine were applied during the phase of cell growth, radioactive label appeared in the released macromolecules after a lag period of 40 min, whereas incorporation into the insoluble part of the cell wall was delayed only by 20 min. When applied at the end of the growth phase, e.g. 13 h after beginning of the illumination period, the radioactive amino acids were incorporated into the cell wall, but radioactive labelling of macromolecules released into the culture medium could not be detected before the zoospores were liberated from the mother-cell wall. Maximal incorporation of [3H]proline and [35S]methionine into the insoluble part of the cell wall was observed during cell division, but essentially no radioactively-labelled macromolecules were released into the culture medium during this time period. Analysis of the macromolecules, which were liberated during cell enlargement, by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis revealed distinct radioactive bands, which were differentially labelled with [3H]proline and [35S]methionine. Among the macromolecules released into the culture medium during cell growth, a component of an apparent Mr 35 000 was preferentially labelled with [3H]proline. This component was also detected after labelling with [35S]methionine, but components of an apparently higher Mr were more prominent after labelling with [35S]methionine. Macromolecules released during the cell-enlargement period of synchronously growing cultures in the presence of [3H]proline contained radioactively-labelled hydroxyproline in addition to proline. These results show that, during cell-wall growth, specific protein components are released into the culture medium and that at least one of these components contains large amounts of proline and hydroxyproline. At least some of these macromolecules seem to be constituents of the cell wall, because during pulse-chase experiments radioactively-labelled macromolecules appeared in the culture medium mainly during the time period when the specific radioactivity of the insoluble inner-cell-wall layer decreased.


2017 ◽  
Vol 199 (14) ◽  
Author(s):  
Atsushi Yahashiri ◽  
Matthew A. Jorgenson ◽  
David S. Weiss

ABSTRACT Sporulation-related repeat (SPOR) domains are small peptidoglycan (PG) binding domains found in thousands of bacterial proteins. The name “SPOR domain” stems from the fact that several early examples came from proteins involved in sporulation, but SPOR domain proteins are quite diverse and contribute to a variety of processes that involve remodeling of the PG sacculus, especially with respect to cell division. SPOR domains target proteins to the division site by binding to regions of PG devoid of stem peptides (“denuded” glycans), which in turn are enriched in septal PG by the intense, localized activity of cell wall amidases involved in daughter cell separation. This targeting mechanism sets SPOR domain proteins apart from most other septal ring proteins, which localize via protein-protein interactions. In addition to SPOR domains, bacteria contain several other PG-binding domains that can exploit features of the cell wall to target proteins to specific subcellular sites.


1919 ◽  
Vol 44 (299) ◽  
pp. 473-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Muriel Bristol

Summary The material described has been obtained from cultures of a sample of dried soil, which was sent from the Malay States about two years before the cultures were set up. The vegetative cells are spherical or subspherical, solitary or collected together into mucilaginous strata, very variable in size, being from 20–80 μ in diameter, each with a thin cellulose cell-wall and a single parietal chloroplast containing from one to several pyrenoids and numerous starch granules. In adult cells a quantity of yellow oil is stored, in which a bright red pigment is often dissolved. The cytoplasm is reticulate. The young cells contain a single minute nucleus and one pyrenoid, both of which multiply by repeated division so that the adult cells are cœnocytic with many pyrenoids. Propagation takes place, by successive bipartition of the contents of the mother-cell, into 8–16 or numerous biciliate zoogonidia which may develop asexually or may act as facultative gametes. In both cases direct development into vegetative cells takes place. Aplanospore-formation may also take place, preceded by the multiplication by constriction of the nuclei of the mother-cell. The aplanospores remain imbedded in a mucous stratum, and enter into a palmelloid state in which further bipartitions may take place. Eventually, the palmelloid cells either acquire cilia and behave as normal zoogonidia or they develop directly into vegetative cells. True vegetative division does not take place, but the cell-contents may divide into two daughter-cells which immediately acquire new cell-walls and are set free as vegetative cells by the dissolution of the mother-cell-wall. Chloroaoccum humicola, differing in no essential particulars from that in the Malay soil, has been found to occur almost universally in English soils. The limit of its resistance against desiccation and of its retention of vitality has been shown, by investigations on long-dried English soils, to lie somewhere between seventy and eighty years. In conclusion, I wish to express my thanks to Professor G. S. West for his valuable help throughout this work.


1982 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. CRAIGIE ◽  
T. CAVALIER-SMITH

Chlamydomonas reinhardii divides by multiple fission to produce 2n daughter cells per division burst, where n is an integer. By separating predivision cells from synchronous cultures into fractions of differing mean cell volumes, and electronically measuring the numbers and volume distributions of the daughter cells produced by the subsequent division burst, we have shown that n is determined by the volume of the parent cell. Control of n can occur simply, if after every cell division the daughter cells monitor their volume and divide again if, and only if, their volume is greater than a fixed minimum value. In cultures synchronized by 12-h light/12-h dark cycles, the larger parent cells divide earlier in the dark period than do smaller cells. This has been shown by two independent methods: (1) by separating cells into different size fractions by Percoll density-gradient centrifugation and using the light microscope to see when they divide; and (2) by studying changes in the cell volume distribution of unfractioned cultures. Since daughter cells remain within the mother-cell wall for some hours after cell division, and cell division causes an overall swelling of the mother-cell wall, the timing of division can be determined electronically by measuring this increase in cell volume that occurs in the dark period in the absence of growth; we find that cells at the large end of the size distribution range undergo this swelling first, and are then followed by successively smaller size fractions. A simple model embodying a sizer followed by a timer gives a good quantitative fit to these data for 12-h light/12-h dark cycles if cell division occurs 12-h after attaining a critical volume of approximately 140 μm3. However, this simple model is called into question by our finding that alterations in the length of the light period alter the rate of progress towards division even of cells that have attained their critical volume. We discuss the relative roles of light and cell volume in the control of division timing in the Chlamydomonas cell cycle.


1990 ◽  
Vol 110 (5) ◽  
pp. 1617-1621 ◽  
Author(s):  
I M Hagan ◽  
P N Riddle ◽  
J S Hyams

We have used a new cinemicroscopy technique in combination with antitubulin immunofluorescence microscopy to investigate the timing of mitotic events in cells of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe having lengths at division between 7 and 60 microns. Wild-type fission yeast cells divide at a length of 14 microns. Separation of daughter nuclei (anaphase B) proceeds at a rate of 1.6 +/- 0.2 microns min-1, until the spindle extends the length of the cell. Coincident with spindle depolymerization, the nuclei reverse direction and take up positions that will become the center of the two daughter cells. This post-mitotic nuclear migration occurs at a rate of 1.4 +/- 0.5 microns-1. In cells in which the weel+ gene is overexpressed fivefold and that have an average length at mitosis of 28 microns, the rate of nuclear separation was only slightly reduced but, as spindles in these cells measure 20-22 microns, the duration of anaphase B was extended by approximately 40%. By contrast, in the mutant weel.50, which divides at 7 microns, both the rate and duration of anaphase B were indistinguishable from wild type. Nuclei reach the ends of these cells earlier but remain there until a point corresponding to the time of postmitotic nuclear migration in wild type. Thus, the events of mitosis can be extended but not abbreviated. These results are discussed in terms of a mitotic termination control that monitors many different events, one of which is spindle elongation.


1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (8) ◽  
pp. 464-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. S. Tsai ◽  
Ken P. Mitton ◽  
Byron F. Johnson

The fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe utilizes acetate at subinhibitory concentrations in the presence of D-glucose. The nonionized form of acetate is preferentially utilized, oxidized to 14CO2, and assimilated into lipids and proteins. Acetyl CoA synthetase activity greatly increases in the yeast cells grown in media containing acetate. However, glyoxylate cycle enzymes are not detectable in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. [1-14C] Acetate is incorporated into stereols, sterol esters, neutral lipids, and phospholipids. Assimilation of [1-14C]acetate into the peptide structure of proteins was confirmed by a proteolytic digestion experiment.Key words: acetate utilization, fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe.


2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (8) ◽  
pp. 1446-1454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie A. Morris ◽  
Yoichiro Shibata ◽  
Ken-ichi Noma ◽  
Yuko Tsukamoto ◽  
Erin Warren ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Set2 methylation of histone H3 at lysine 36 (K36) has recently been shown to be associated with RNA polymerase II (Pol II) elongation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. However, whether this modification is conserved and associated with transcription elongation in other organisms is not known. Here we report the identification and characterization of the Set2 ortholog responsible for K36 methylation in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. We find that similar to the budding yeast enzyme, S. pombe Set2 is also a robust nucleosome-selective H3 methyltransferase that is specific for K36. Deletion of the S. pombe set2 + gene results in complete abolishment of K36 methylation as well as a slow-growth phenotype on plates containing synthetic medium. These results indicate that Set2 is the sole enzyme responsible for this modification in fission yeast and is important for cell growth under stressed conditions. Using the chromatin immunoprecipitation assay, we demonstrate that K36 methylation in S. pombe is associated with the transcribed regions of Pol II-regulated genes and is devoid in regions that are not transcribed by Pol II. Consistent with a role for Set2 in transcription elongation, we find that S. pombe Set2 associates with the hyperphosphorylated form of Pol II and can fully rescue K36 methylation and Pol II interaction in budding yeast cells deleted for Set2. These results, along with our finding that K36 methylation is highly conserved among eukaryotes, imply a conserved role for this modification in the transcription elongation process.


2008 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. 1433-1440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher R. Houchens ◽  
Audrey Perreault ◽  
François Bachand ◽  
Thomas J. Kelly

ABSTRACT The initiation of eukaryotic DNA replication is preceded by the assembly of prereplication complexes (pre-RCs) at chromosomal origins of DNA replication. Pre-RC assembly requires the essential DNA replication proteins ORC, Cdc6, and Cdt1 to load the MCM DNA helicase onto chromatin. Saccharomyces cerevisiae Noc3 (ScNoc3), an evolutionarily conserved protein originally implicated in 60S ribosomal subunit trafficking, has been proposed to be an essential regulator of DNA replication that plays a direct role during pre-RC formation in budding yeast. We have cloned Schizosaccharomyces pombe noc3 + (Spnoc3 +), the S. pombe homolog of the budding yeast ScNOC3 gene, and functionally characterized the requirement for the SpNoc3 protein during ribosome biogenesis, cell cycle progression, and DNA replication in fission yeast. We showed that fission yeast SpNoc3 is a functional homolog of budding yeast ScNoc3 that is essential for cell viability and ribosome biogenesis. We also showed that SpNoc3 is required for the normal completion of cell division in fission yeast. However, in contrast to the proposal that ScNoc3 plays an essential role during DNA replication in budding yeast, we demonstrated that fission yeast cells do enter and complete S phase in the absence of SpNoc3, suggesting that SpNoc3 is not essential for DNA replication in fission yeast.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document