scholarly journals Expression and Characterization of the Flocculin Flo11/Muc1, a Saccharomyces cerevisiae Mannoprotein with Homotypic Properties of Adhesion

2007 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
pp. 2214-2221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lois M. Douglas ◽  
Li Li ◽  
Yang Yang ◽  
A. M. Dranginis

ABSTRACT The Flo11/Muc1 flocculin has diverse phenotypic effects. Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells of strain background Σ1278b require Flo11p to form pseudohyphae, invade agar, adhere to plastic, and develop biofilms, but they do not flocculate. We show that S. cerevisiae var. diastaticus strains, on the other hand, exhibit Flo11-dependent flocculation and biofilm formation but do not invade agar or form pseudohyphae. In order to study the nature of the Flo11p proteins produced by these two types of strains, we examined secreted Flo11p, encoded by a plasmid-borne gene, in which the glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor sequences had been replaced by a histidine tag. A protein of approximately 196 kDa was secreted from both strains, which upon purification and concentration, aggregated into a form with a very high molecular mass. When secreted Flo11p was covalently attached to microscopic beads, it conferred the ability to specifically bind to S. cerevisiae var. diastaticus cells, which flocculate, but not to Σ1278b cells, which do not flocculate. This was true for the 196-kDa form as well as the high-molecular-weight form of Flo11p, regardless of the strain source. The coated beads bound to S. cerevisiae var. diastaticus cells expressing FLO11 and failed to bind to cells with a deletion of FLO11, demonstrating a homotypic adhesive mechanism. Flo11p was shown to be a mannoprotein. Bead-to-cell adhesion was inhibited by mannose, which also inhibits Flo11-dependent flocculation in vivo, further suggesting that this in vitro system is a useful model for the study of fungal adhesion.

1997 ◽  
Vol 328 (2) ◽  
pp. 669-675 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Tamara DOERING ◽  
Randy SCHEKMAN

The yeast mating pheromone precursor prepro-alpha factor was fused to C-terminal signals for glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor attachment, based on the sequence of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae protein Gas1p. Maturation of fusion proteins expressed in vivo required the presence of both a functional GPI attachment site and the synthesis of GPI precursors. Constructs were translated in vitro for use in cell-free studies of glycolipid attachment. The radiolabelled polypeptides were post-translationally translocated into yeast microsomes, where at least one third of the molecules received a GPI anchor. This approach offers distinct advantages over anchor attachment reactions that require co-translational translocation of secretory peptide substrates.


1999 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 2817-2827 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth S. Haswell ◽  
Erin K. O’Shea

ABSTRACT The Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene PHO5 is an excellent system with which to study regulated changes in chromatin structure. The PHO5 promoter is packaged into four positioned nucleosomes under repressing conditions; upon induction, the structure of these nucleosomes is altered such that the promoter DNA becomes accessible to nucleases. We report here the development and characterization of an in vitro system in which partially purified PHO5 minichromosomes undergo promoter chromatin remodeling. Several hallmarks of thePHO5 chromatin transition in vivo were reproduced in this system. Chromatin remodeling of PHO5minichromosomes required the transcription factors Pho4 and Pho2, was localized to the promoter region of PHO5, and was independent of the chromatin-remodeling complex Swi-Snf. In vitro chromatin remodeling also required the addition of fractionated nuclear extract and hydrolyzable ATP. This in vitro system should serve as a useful tool for identifying the components required for this reaction and for elucidating the mechanism by which the PHO5promoter chromatin structure is changed.


1995 ◽  
Vol 130 (3) ◽  
pp. 567-577 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Karaoglu ◽  
D J Kelleher ◽  
R Gilmore

Within the lumen of the rough endoplasmic reticulum, oligosaccharyltransferase catalyzes the en bloc transfer of a high mannose oligosaccharide moiety from the lipid-linked oligosaccharide donor to asparagine acceptor sites in nascent polypeptides. The Saccharomyces cerevisiae oligosaccharyltransferase was purified as a heteroligomeric complex consisting of six subunits (alpha-zeta) having apparent molecular masses of 64 kD (Ost1p), 45 kD (Wbp1p), 34 kD, 30 kD (Swp1p), 16 kD, and 9 kD. Here we report a structural and functional characterization of Ost3p which corresponds to the 34-kD gamma-subunit of the oligosaccharyltransferase. Unlike Ost1p, Wbp1p, and Swp1p, expression of Ost3p is not essential for viability of yeast. Instead, ost3 null mutant yeast grow at wild-type rates on solid or in liquid media irrespective of culture temperature. Nonetheless, detergent extracts prepared from ost3 null mutant membranes are twofold less active than extracts prepared from wild-type membranes in an in vitro oligosaccharyltransferase assay. Furthermore, loss of Ost3p is accompanied by significant underglycosylation of soluble and membrane-bound glycoproteins in vivo. Compared to the previously characterized ost1-1 mutant in the oligosaccharyltransferase, and the alg5 mutant in the oligosaccharide assembly pathway, ost3 null mutant yeast appear to be selectively impaired in the glycosylation of several membrane glycoproteins. The latter observation suggests that Ost3p may enhance oligosaccharide transfer in vivo to a subset of acceptor substrates.


2008 ◽  
Vol 182 (4) ◽  
pp. 703-713 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Cao ◽  
Heesun Cheong ◽  
Hui Song ◽  
Daniel J. Klionsky

Autophagy is a major intracellular degradative pathway that is involved in various human diseases. The role of autophagy, however, is complex; although the process is generally considered to be cytoprotective, it can also contribute to cellular dysfunction and disease progression. Much progress has been made in our understanding of autophagy, aided in large part by the identification of the autophagy-related (ATG) genes. Nonetheless, our understanding of the molecular mechanism remains limited. In this study, we generated a Saccharomyces cerevisiae multiple-knockout strain with 24 ATG genes deleted, and we used it to carry out an in vivo reconstitution of the autophagy pathway. We determined minimum requirements for different aspects of autophagy and studied the initial protein assembly steps at the phagophore assembly site. In vivo reconstitution enables the study of autophagy within the context of the complex regulatory networks that control this process, an analysis that is not possible with an in vitro system.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary Morrison ◽  
Alexander Eddenden ◽  
Adithya S Subramanian ◽  
P. Lynne Howell ◽  
mark nitz

Bacteria require polysaccharides for structure, survival, and virulence. Despite the central role these structures play in microbiology few tools are available to manipulate their production. In E. coli the glycosyltransferase complex PgaCD produces poly-N-acetylglucosamine (PNAG), an extracellular matrix polysaccharide required for biofilm formation. We report that C6-substituted (H, F, N3, SH, NH2) UDP-GlcNAc substrate analogues are inhibitors of PgaCD. In vitro the inhibitors cause PNAG chain termination; consistent with the mechanism of PNAG polymerization from the non-reducing terminus. In vivo, expression of the GlcNAc-1-kinase NahK in E. coli provided a non-native GlcNAc salvage pathway that produced the UDP-GlcNAc analogue inhibitors in situ. The 6-fluoro and 6-deoxy derivatives were potent inhibitors of biofilm formation in the transformed strain, providing a tool to manipulate this key exopolysaccharide. Characterization of the UDP-GlcNAc pool and quantification of PNAG generation support PNAG termination as the primary in vivo mechanism of biofilm inhibition by 6-fluoro UDP-GlcNAc.


1997 ◽  
Vol 17 (10) ◽  
pp. 5867-5875 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Dalton ◽  
B Hopwood

Cdc47p is a member of the minichromosome maintenance (MCM) family of polypeptides, which have a role in the early stages of chromosomal DNA replication. Here, we show that Cdc47p assembles into stable complexes with two other members of the MCM family, Cdc46p and Mcm3p. The assembly of Cdc47p into complexes with Cdc46p does not appear to be cell cycle regulated, making it unlikely that these interactions per se are a rate-limiting step in the control of S phase. Cdc45p is also shown to interact with Cdc47p in vivo and to be a component of high-molecular-weight MCM complexes in cell lysates. Like MCM polypeptides, Cdc45p is essential for the initiation of chromosomal DNA replication in Saccharomyces cerevisiae; however, Cdc45p remains in the nucleus throughout the cell cycle, whereas MCMs are nuclear only during G1. We characterize two mutations in CDC47 and CDC46 which arrest cells with unduplicated DNA as a result of single base substitutions. The corresponding amino acid substitutions in Cdc46p and Cdc47p severely reduce the ability of these polypeptides to assemble in a complex with each other in vivo and in vitro. This argues that assembly of Cdc47p into complexes with other MCM polypeptides is important for its role in the initiation of chromosomal DNA replication.


2005 ◽  
Vol 390 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin-Hua Liao ◽  
Ming-Liang Zhang ◽  
Cui-Ping Yang ◽  
Lu-Xia Xu ◽  
Jin-Qiu Zhou

Telomerase is a cellular reverse transcriptase that elongates the single-stranded chromosome ends and oligonucleotides in vivo and in vitro. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Est2p (telomerase catalytic subunit) and Tlc1 (telomerase RNA template subunit) constitute the telomerase core complex. We co-overexpressed GST (glutathione S-transferase)–Est2p and Tlc1 in S. cerevisiae, and reconstituted the telomerase activity. The GST–Est2p–Tlc1 complex was partially purified by ammonium sulphate fractionation and affinity chromatography on glutathione beads, and the partially purified telomerase did not contain the other two subunits of the telomerase holoenzyme, Est1p and Est3p. The purified recombinant GST–Est2p–Tlc1 telomerase core complex could specifically add nucleotides on to the single-stranded TG1–3 primer in a processive manner, but could not translocate to synthesize more than one telomeric repeat. The purified telomerase core complex exhibited different activities when primers were paired with the Tlc1 template at different positions. The procedure of reconstitution and purification of telomerase core enzyme that we have developed now allows for further mechanistic studies of the functions of other subunits of the telomerase holoenzyme as well as other telomerase regulation proteins.


2008 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 1617-1627 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rita Tamayo ◽  
Stefan Schild ◽  
Jason T. Pratt ◽  
Andrew Camilli

ABSTRACT In Vibrio cholerae, the second messenger cyclic di-GMP (c-di-GMP) positively regulates biofilm formation and negatively regulates virulence and is proposed to play an important role in the transition from persistence in the environment to survival in the host. Herein we describe a characterization of the infection-induced gene cdpA, which encodes both GGDEF and EAL domains, which are known to mediate diguanylate cyclase and c-di-GMP phosphodiesterase (PDE) activities, respectively. CdpA is shown to possess PDE activity, and this activity is regulated by its inactive degenerate GGDEF domain. CdpA inhibits biofilm formation but has no effect on colonization of the infant mouse small intestine. Consistent with these observations, cdpA is expressed during in vitro growth in a biofilm but is not expressed in vivo until the late stage of infection, after colonization has occurred. To test for a role of c-di-GMP in the early stages of infection, we artificially increased c-di-GMP and observed reduced colonization. This was attributed to a significant reduction in toxT transcription during infection. Cumulatively, these results support a model of the V. cholerae life cycle in which c-di-GMP must be down-regulated early after entering the small intestine and maintained at a low level to allow virulence gene expression, colonization, and motility at appropriate stages of infection.


FEBS Journal ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (6) ◽  
pp. 1146-1161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shin Hamamoto ◽  
Yasuo Mori ◽  
Isamu Yabe ◽  
Nobuyuki Uozumi

1982 ◽  
Vol 47 (03) ◽  
pp. 244-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
D P Thomas ◽  
Rosemary E Merton ◽  
T W Barrowcliffe ◽  
L Thunberg ◽  
U Lindahl

SummaryThe in vitro and in vivo characteristics of two oligosaccharide heparin fragments have been compared to those of unfractionated mucosal heparin. A decasaccharide fragment had essentially no activity by APTT or calcium thrombin time assays in vitro, but possessed very high specific activity by anti-Factor Xa assays. When injected into rabbits at doses of up to 80 ¼g/kg, this fragment was relatively ineffective in impairing stasis thrombosis despite producing high blood levels by anti-Xa assays. A 16-18 monosaccharide fragment had even higher specific activity (almost 2000 iu/mg) by chromogenic substrate anti-Xa assay, with minimal activity by APTT. When injected in vivo, this fragment gave low blood levels by APTT, very high anti-Xa levels, and was more effective in preventing thrombosis than the decasaccharide fragment. However, in comparison with unfractionated heparin, the 16-18 monosaccharide fragment was only partially effective in preventing thrombosis, despite producing much higher blood levels by anti-Xa assays.It is concluded that the high-affinity binding of a heparin fragment to antithrombin III does not by itself impair venous thrombogenesis, and that the anti-Factor Xa activity of heparin is only a partial expression of its therapeutic potential.


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