Escape of mitochondrial DNA to the nucleus in yme1 yeast is mediated by vacuolar-dependent turnover of abnormal mitochondrial compartments

1998 ◽  
Vol 111 (16) ◽  
pp. 2455-2464 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.L. Campbell ◽  
P.E. Thorsness

Inactivation of Yme1p, a mitochondrially-localized ATP-dependent metallo-protease in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, causes a high rate of DNA escape from mitochondria to the nucleus as well as pleiotropic functional and morphological mitochondrial defects. The evidence presented here suggests that the abnormal mitochondria of a yme1 strain are degraded by the vacuole. First, electron microscopy of Yme1p-deficient strains revealed mitochondria physically associated with the vacuole via electron dense structures. Second, disruption of vacuolar function affected the frequency of mitochondrial DNA escape from yme1 and wild-type strains. Both PEP4 or PRC1 gene disruptions resulted in a lower frequency of mitochondrial DNA escape. Third, an in vivo assay that monitors vacuole-dependent turnover of the mitochondrial compartment demonstrated an increased rate of mitochondrial turnover in yme1 yeast when compared to the rate found in wild-type yeast. In this assay, vacuolar alkaline phosphatase, encoded by PHO8, was targeted to mitochondria in a strain bearing disruption to the genomic PHO8 locus. Maturation of the mitochondrially localized alkaline phosphatase pro-enzyme requires proteinase A, which is localized in the vacuole. Therefore, alkaline phosphatase activity reflects vacuole-dependent turnover of mitochondria. This assay reveals that mitochondria of a yme1 strain are taken up by the vacuole more frequently than mitochondria of an isogenic wild-type strain when these yeast are cultured in medium necessitating respiratory growth. Degradation of abnormal mitochondria is one pathway by which mitochondrial DNA escapes and migrates to the nucleus.

1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 1805-1812 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Zhu ◽  
R H Schiestl

Chromosome aberrations may cause cancer and many heritable diseases. Topoisomerase I has been suspected of causing chromosome aberrations by mediating illegitimate recombination. The effects of deletion and of overexpression of the topoisomerase I gene on illegitimate recombination in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been studied. Yeast transformations were carried out with DNA fragments that did not have any homology to the genomic DNA. The frequency of illegitimate integration was 6- to 12-fold increased in a strain overexpressing topoisomerase I compared with that in isogenic control strains. Hot spot sequences [(G/C)(A/T)T] for illegitimate integration target sites accounted for the majority of the additional events after overexpression of topoisomerase I. These hot spot sequences correspond to sequences previously identified in vitro as topoisomerase I preferred cleavage sequences in other organisms. Furthermore, such hot spot sequences were found in 44% of the integration events present in the TOP1 wild-type strain and at a significantly lower frequency in the top1delta strain. Our results provide in vivo evidence that a general eukaryotic topoisomerase I enzyme nicks DNA and ligates nonhomologous ends, leading to illegitimate recombination.


1978 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 637-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. C. Thomas ◽  
Mary Spencer

Effects of the carbon source and oxygen on ethylene production by the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been studied. The amounts of ethylene evolved by the yeast culture were less than those detected in the blank (an equal volume of uninoculated medium), suggesting a net absorption of ethylene by the yeast cells. Addition of glucose to the lactate-grown yeast culture induced ethylene production. This glucose-induced stimulation of ethylene production was inhibited to a great extent by cycloheximide. Results suggested that the yeast cells in the presence of glucose synthesized an ethylene precursor and passed it into the medium. The conversion of this precursor to ethylene might be stimulated by oxygen. The fact that ethylene was produced by the yeast growing anaerobically and also by respiration-deficient mutants isolated from the wild-type yeast suggested that mitochondrial ATP synthesis was not an absolute requirement for ethylene biogenesis.


1978 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 427-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. L. Marceau-Day ◽  
D. F Day ◽  
J. M. Ingram

An alkaline phosphatase mutant of Pseudomonas aeruginosa exhibiting both regulatory and catalytic changes was isolated. Under repression conditions (i.e. high inorganic phosphate (Pi)) the mutant culture produced an alkaline phosphatase (APase) displaying significant activity against both β-glycerol phosphate (βGP) and p-nitrophenyl phosphate (pNPP), while the wild type displayed no activity directed towards these substrates under the same conditions. In vivo, the mutant enzyme's ratio of specific activities was 45:1 in favour of βGP versus pNPP, whereas this ratio was reversed to 1:9 βGP versus pNPP for the same enzyme isolated from mutant cells. In addition, the kinetic parameters and stability requirements for the mutant-derived enzyme was altered in comparison with those of the wild type. A study of lipopolysaccharide(LPS) preparations from both the mutant and wild type indicated the mutant to be deficient in the core region of its LPS. The authors propose that the modifications in the catalytic activity of the mutant enzyme, demonstrated in vivo, are due to a change in the enzyme's microenvironment.


1974 ◽  
Vol 52 (11) ◽  
pp. 941-949 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Zeman ◽  
C. V. Lusena

Isolated yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) mitochondria incorporate radioactive precursors into mitochondrial DNA. This in vitro labelled DNA was characterized by isopycnic and sedimentation velocity centrifugation both in the native and denatured state. The profiles of isopycnic CsCl gradients obtained by centrifugation in a fixed-angle rotor are skewed toward high density. The skew is neither due to the presence of in vitro labelled nuclear DNA nor due to random breaks in mitochondrial DNA which would reveal, then, its heterogeneity in base composition. The in vitro labelled DNA is reproducibly recovered as a class of molecules sedimenting at about 5–8 S, indicating a molecular weight of 1 × 105 – 4 × 105 daltons, while the smallest in vivo labelled fragments sediment at about 13–14 S, corresponding to 1.6 × 106 – 2.0 × 106 daltons. After denaturation, the in vitro labelled DNA molecules sediment at about 2–5 S, corresponding to a single-strand molecular weight of 1 × 104 – 7 × 104 daltons, which is about one hundred times less than the observed size of the denatured in vivo labelled molecules.


1987 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 181-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Momayezi ◽  
C J Lumpert ◽  
H Kersken ◽  
U Gras ◽  
H Plattner ◽  
...  

Since it had been previously shown that in Paramecium cells exocytosis involves the dephosphorylation of a 65-kD phosphoprotein (PP), we tried to induce exocytotic membrane fusion by exogenous phosphatases (alkaline phosphatase or calcineurin [CaN]). The occurrence of calmodulin (CaM) at preformed exocytosis sites (Momayezi, M., H. Kersken, U. Gras, J. Vilmart-Seuwen, and H. Plattner, 1986, J. Histochem. Cytochem., 34:1621-1638) and the current finding of the presence of the 65-kD PP and of a CaN-like protein in cell surface fragments ("cortices") isolated from Paramecium cells led us to also test the effect of antibodies (Ab) against CaM or CaN on exocytosis performance. Microinjected anti-CaN Ab strongly inhibit exocytosis. (Negative results with microinjected anti-CaM Ab can easily be explained by the abundance of CaM.) Alternatively, microinjection of a Ca2+-CaM-CaN complex triggers exocytosis. The same occurs with alkaline phosphatase. All these effects can also be mimicked in vitro with isolated cortices. In vitro exocytosis triggered by adding Ca2+-CaM-CaN or alkaline phosphatase is paralleled by dephosphorylation of the 65-kD PP. Exocytosis can also be inhibited in cortices by anti-CaM Ab or anti-CaN Ab. In wild-type cells, compounds that inhibit phosphatase activity, but none that inhibit kinases or proteases, are able to inhibit exocytosis. Exocytosis cannot be induced by phosphatase injection in a membrane-fusion-deficient mutant strain (nd9-28 degrees C) characterized by a defective organization of exocytosis sites (Beisson, J., M. Lefort-Tran, M. Pouphile, M. Rossignol, and B. Satir, 1976, J. Cell Biol., 69:126-143). We conclude that exocytotic membrane fusion requires an adequate assembly of molecular components to allow for the dephosphorylation of a 65-kD PP and that this step is crucial for the induction of exocytotic membrane fusion in Paramecium cells. In vivo this probably involves a Ca2+-CaM-stimulated CaN-like PP phosphatase.


1994 ◽  
Vol 126 (4) ◽  
pp. 853-862 ◽  
Author(s):  
X Shan ◽  
Z Xue ◽  
T Mélèse

We have identified a gene (NPI46) encoding a new prolyl cis-trans isomerase within the nucleolus of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The protein encoded by NPI46 was originally found by us in a search for proteins that recognize nuclear localization sequences (NLSs) in vitro. Thus, NPI46 binds to affinity columns that contain a wild-type histone H2B NLS but not a mutant H2B NLS that is incompetent for nuclear localization in vivo. NPI46 has two domains, a highly charged NH2 terminus similar to two other mammalian nucleolar proteins, nucleolin and Nopp140, and a COOH terminus with 45% homology to a family of mammalian and yeast proline isomerases. NPI46 is capable of catalyzing the prolyl cis-trans isomerization of two small synthetic peptides, succinyl-Ala-Leu-Pro-Phe-p-nitroanilide and succinyl-Ala-Ala-Pro-Phe-p-nitroanilide, as measured by a chymotrypsin-coupled spectrophotometric assay. By indirect immunofluorescence we have shown that NPI46 is a nucleolar protein. NPI46 is not essential for cell viability.


1993 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2697-2705
Author(s):  
R H Schiestl ◽  
M Dominska ◽  
T D Petes

When the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae was transformed with DNA that shares no homology to the genome, three classes of transformants were obtained. In the most common class, the DNA was inserted as the result of a reaction that appears to require base pairing between the target sequence and the terminal few base pairs of the transforming DNA fragment. In the second class, no such homology was detected, and the transforming DNA was integrated next to a CTT or GTT in the target; it is likely that these integration events were mediated by topoisomerase I. The final class involved the in vivo ligation of transforming DNA with nucleus-localized linear fragments of mitochondrial DNA.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Hitschler ◽  
Eckhard Boles

ABSTRACT Heterologous expression of 6-methylsalicylic acid synthase (MSAS) together with 6-MSA decarboxylase enables de novo production of the platform chemical and antiseptic additive 3-methylphenol (3-MP) in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. However, toxicity of 3-MP prevents higher production levels. In this study, we evaluated in vivo detoxification strategies to overcome limitations of 3-MP production. An orcinol-O-methyltransferase from Chinese rose hybrids (OOMT2) was expressed in the 3-MP producing yeast strain to convert 3-MP to 3-methylanisole (3-MA). Together with in situ extraction by dodecane of the highly volatile 3-MA this resulted in up to 211 mg/L 3-MA (1.7 mM) accumulation. Expression of a UDP-glycosyltransferase (UGT72B27) from Vitis vinifera led to the synthesis of up to 533 mg/L 3-MP as glucoside (4.9 mM). Conversion of 3-MP to 3-MA and 3-MP glucoside was not complete. Finally, deletion of phosphoglucose isomerase PGI1 together with methylation or glycosylation and feeding a fructose/glucose mixture to redirect carbon fluxes resulted in strongly increased product titers, with up to 897 mg/L 3-MA/3-MP (9 mM) and 873 mg/L 3-MP/3-MP as glucoside (8.1 mM) compared to less than 313 mg/L (2.9 mM) product titers in the wild type controls. The results show that methylation or glycosylation are promising tools to overcome limitations in further enhancing the biotechnological production of 3-MP.


2004 ◽  
Vol 379 (2) ◽  
pp. 309-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Telma C. ESTEVES ◽  
Karim S. ECHTAY ◽  
Tanya JONASSEN ◽  
Catherine F. CLARKE ◽  
Martin D. BRAND

Q (coenzyme Q or ubiquinone) is reported to be a cofactor obligatory for proton transport by UCPs (uncoupling proteins) in liposomes [Echtay, Winkler and Klingenberg (2000) Nature (London) 408, 609–613] and for increasing the binding of the activator retinoic acid to UCP1 [Tomás, Ledesma and Rial (2002) FEBS Lett. 526, 63–65]. In the present study, yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) mutant strains lacking Q and expressing UCP1 were used to determine whether Q was required for UCP function in mitochondria. Wild-type yeast strain and two mutant strains (CENΔCOQ3 and CENΔCOQ2), both not capable of synthesizing Q, were transformed with the mouse UCP1 gene. UCP1 activity was measured as fatty acid-dependent, GDP-sensitive proton conductance in mitochondria isolated from the cells. The activity of UCP1 was similar in both Q-containing and -deficient yeast mitochondria. We conclude that Q is neither an obligatory cofactor nor an activator of proton transport by UCP1 when it is expressed in yeast mitochondria.


1991 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 3105-3114
Author(s):  
J Schnier ◽  
H G Schwelberger ◽  
Z Smit-McBride ◽  
H A Kang ◽  
J W Hershey

Translation intitiation factor eIF-5A (previously named eIF-4D) is a highly conserved protein that promotes formation of the first peptide bond. One of its lysine residues is modified by spermidine to form hypusine, a posttranslational modification unique to eIF-5A. To elucidate the function of eIF-5A and determine the role of its hypusine modification, the cDNA encoding human eIF-5A was used as a probe to identify and clone the corresponding genes from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Two genes named TIF51A and TIF51B were cloned and sequenced. The two yeast proteins are closely related, sharing 90% sequence identity, and each is ca. 63% identical to the human protein. The purified protein expressed from the TIF51A gene substitutes for HeLa eIF-5A in the mammalian methionyl-puromycin synthesis assay. Strains lacking the A form of eIF-5A, constructed by disruption of TIF51A with LEU2, grow slowly, whereas strains lacking the B form, in which HIS3 was used to disrupt TIF51B, show no growth rate phenotype. However, strains with both TIF51A and TIF51B disrupted are not viable, indicating that eIF-5a is essential for cell growth in yeast cells. Northern (RNA) blot analysis shows two mRNA species, a larger mRNA (0.9 kb) transcribed from TIF51A and a smaller mRNA (0.8 kb) encoded by TIF51B. Under the aerobic growth conditions of this study, the 0.8-kb TIF51B transcript is not detected in the wild-type strain and is expressed only when TIF51A is disrupted. The TIF51A gene was altered by site-directed mutagenesis at the site of hypusination by changing the Lys codon to that for Arg, thereby producing a stable protein that retains the positive charge but is not modified to the hypusine derivative. The plasmid shuffle technique was used to replace the wild-type gene with the mutant form, resulting in failure of the yeast cells to grow. This result indicates that hypusine very likely is required for the vital in vivo function of eIF-5A and suggests a precise, essential role for the polyamine spermidine in cell metabolism.


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