Andrei A. Sibirny

A unified nomenclature for yeast autophagy-related genes

The authors would like to thank Drs. Jan A.K.W. Kiel, Ida J. van der Klei, Beth Levine, Fulvio Reggiori, and Takahiro Shintani for helpful comments on the manuscript, and the many researchers in the yeast field who have agreed to changes in the standard names of various genes.

Pexophagy: the selective autophagy of peroxisomes.

Pichia pastoris and Hanseula polymorpha are methylotrophic yeasts capable of utilizing methanol, as a sole source of carbon and energy. Growth of these yeast species on methanol requires the synthesis of cytosolic and peroxisomal enzymes combined with the proliferation of peroxisomes. Peroxisomes are also abundantly present in the alkane-utilizing yeast Yarrowia lipolytica upon growth of cells on oleic acid. This feature has made these yeast species attractive model systems to dissect the molecular mechanisms controlling peroxisome biogenesis. We have found that upon glucose- or ethanol-induced catabolite inactivation of metabolically superfluous peroxisomes are rapidly and selectively degraded within the vacuole by a process called pexophagy, the selective removal of peroxisomes by autophagy-like processes. Utilizing several genetic screens, we have identified a number of genes that are essential for pexophagy. In this review, we will summarize our current knowledge of the molecular events of pexophagy.

Trs85 is Required for Macroautophagy, Pexophagy and Cytoplasm to Vacuole Targeting in Yarrowia lipolytica and Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Yarrowia lipolytica was recently introduced as a new model organism to study peroxisome degradation in yeasts. Transfer of Y. lipolytica cells from oleate/ethylamine to glucose/ammonium chloride medium leads to selective macroautophagy of peroxisomes. To decipher the molecular mechanisms of macropexophagy we made use of Y. lipolytica tagged mutants affected in the inactivation of peroxisomal enzymes under pexophagy conditions, Ain16 and Ain19. Both strains appeared to be disrupted at two different sites of the same gene, YlTRS85, the ortholog of Saccharomyces cerevisiae TRS85 that encodes 85 kDa subunit of transport protein particle (TRAPP). Y. lipolytica trs85 mutants had multiple defects of protein transport to external medium, cell wall and vacuoles, indicating that YlTrs85 is indeed the ScTrs85 functional homologue, required early in the classical secretory pathway. Interestingly, peroxisomes were not able to reach vacuoles under pexophagy conditions in both Ain16 and Ain19 strains. Therefore, the essential role of the early secretory flow in selective macroautophagy of peroxisomes is suggested.

Microbial O2- and H2O2-electrode sensors for alcohol assays based on the use of permeabilized mutant yeast cells as the sensitive bioelements

Two types of alcohol-specific microbial/electrochemical biosensors have been developed using specially constructed mutant cells of the methylotrophic yeast Hansenula polymorpha. The cells were immobilized in a calcium alginate gel, and placed between two membranes on the surface of oxygen or hydrogen peroxide-electrodes. The O2 electrode based biosensor contained mutant cells with strongly elevated alcohol oxidase activity. The peroxide electrode based biosensor consisted of catalase-defective mutant cells which produce hydrogen peroxide in the presence of alcohol. Both types of mutant cells were used in permeabilized form in order to release some components of the cellular respiration system, thus increasing the selectivity of the cellular respiration response to alcohol (cell/O2-biosensor) Permeabilization also increased sensitivity of the signal and shortened the response time (cell/H2O2-biosensor). Cell/O2 biosensors were linear up to 1.2 mM for ethanol and 0.35 mM for methanol, cell/H2O2 biosensors were linear up to 4.0 mM for ethanol, and 1.2 mM for methanol. Results were reproducible, sample pretreatment was not required, and the sensors exhibited good operational and storage stability. The use of sucrose, dulcitol or inositol during the preparation of the sensors resulted in increased stability of cells during their liophilization and storage in the dried state. Both biosensors had similar selectivity towards alcohols in the order of methanol (100%), ethanol (21%), and formaldehyde (12%). No signal was observed with glucose or glycerol as substrates.

Sterol glucosyltransferases have different functional roles inPichia pastoris and Yarrowia lipolytica

Mutants of the methanol‐utilizing yeast Pichia pastoris and the alkane‐utilizing yeast Yarrowia lipolytica defective in the orthologue of UGT51 (encoding sterol glucosyltransferase) were isolated and compared. These mutants do not contain the specific ergosterol derivate, ergosterol glucoside. We observed that the P. pastoris UGT51 gene is required for pexophagy, the process by which peroxisomes containing methanol‐metabolizing enzymes are selectively shipped to and degraded in the vacuole upon shifting methanol‐grown cells of this yeast to glucose or ethanol. PpUGT51 is also required for other vacuole related processes. In contrast, the Y. lipolytica UGT51 gene is required for utilization of decane, but not for pexophagy. Thus, sterol glucosyltransferases play different functional roles in P. pastoris and Y. lipolytica.

Atg35, a micropexophagy-specific protein that regulates micropexophagic apparatus formation in Pichia pastoris

Autophagy-related (Atg) pathways deliver cytosol and organelles to the vacuole in double-membrane vesicles called autophagosomes, which are formed at the phagophore assembly site (PAS), where most of the core Atg proteins assemble. Atg28 is a component of the core autophagic machinery partially required for all Atg pathways in Pichia pastoris. This coiled-coil protein interacts with Atg17 and is essential for micropexophagy. However, the role of Atg28 in micropexophagy was unknown. We used the yeast two-hybrid system to search for Atg28 interaction partners from P. pastoris and identified a new Atg protein, named Atg35. The atg35∆ mutant was not affected in macropexophagy, cytoplasm-to-vacuole targeting or general autophagy. However, both Atg28 and Atg35 were required for micropexophagy and for the formation of the micropexophagic apparatus (MIPA). This requirement correlated with a stronger expression of both proteins on methanol and glucose. Atg28 mediated the interaction of Atg35 with Atg17. Trafficking of overexpressed Atg17 from the peripheral ER to the nuclear envelope was required to organize a peri-nuclear structure (PNS), the site of Atg35 colocalization during micropexophagy. In summary, Atg35 is a new Atg protein that relocates to the PNS and specifically regulates MIPA formation during micropexophagy.

Metabolically engineered methylotrophic yeast cells and enzymes as sensor biorecognition elements

An extended definition of the term metabolic engineering is given and its successful use in the construction of biorecognition elements of sensors is demonstrated. It is shown that genetic and chemical modifications of methylotrophic yeast cells provide directed changes in their physiological responses towards methanol, ethanol and formaldehyde resulting in enhanced selectivity and shorter time response of the corresponding potentiometric and amperometric biosensors.

Autophagy-Related Pathways and Specific Role of Sterol Glucoside in Yeasts

Recently, we showed that the requirement of sterol glucoside (SG) during pexophagy in yeasts is dependent on the species and the nature of peroxisome inducers. Atg26, the enzyme that converts sterol to SG, is essential for degradation of very large methanol-induced peroxisomes, but only partly required for degradation of smaller-sized oleate- and amine-induced peroxisomes in Pichia pastoris. Moreover, oleate- and amine-induced peroxisomes of another yeast, Yarrowia lipolytica, are degraded by an Atg26-independent mechanism. The same is true for degradation of oleate-induced peroxisomes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here, we review our findings on the specificity of Atg26 function in pexophagy and extend our observations to the role of SG in the cytoplasm to vacuole targeting (Cvt) pathway and bulk autophagy. The results presented here and elsewhere indicate that Atg26 might increase the efficacy of all autophagy-related pathways in P. pastoris, but not in other yeasts. Recently, it was shown that P. pastoris Atg26 (PpAtg26) is required for elongation of the pre-autophagosomal structure (PAS) into the micropexophagic membrane apparatus (MIPA) during micropexophagy. Therefore, we speculate that SG might facilitate elongation of any double membrane from the PAS and this enhancer function of SG becomes essential when extremely large double membranes are formed. Addendum to: The Requirement of Sterol Glucoside for Pexophagy in Yeast Is Dependent on the Species and Nature of Peroxisome Inducers T.Y. Nazarko, A.S. Polupanov, R.R. Manjithaya, S. Subramani and A.A. Sibirny Mol Biol Cell 2007; 18:106-18

GSH2, a gene encoding γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase in the methylotrophic yeast Hansenula polymorpha

The GSH2 gene, encoding Hansenula polymorpha gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase, was cloned by functional complementation of a glutathione (GSH)-deficient gsh2 mutant of H. polymorpha. The gene was isolated as a 4.3-kb XbaI fragment that was capable of restoring GSH synthesis, heavy-metal resistance and cell proliferation when introduced into gsh2 mutant cells. It possesses 53% identical and 69% similar amino acids compared with the Candida albicans homologue (Gcs1p). In comparison to the Saccharomyces cerevisiae homologue (Gsh1p), it possesses 47% identical and 61% similar amino acids. The GSH2 sequence appears in the GenBank database under accession No. AF435121.

Differences in glucose sensing and signaling for pexophagy between the baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris.

The mechanism(s) of glucose sensing for inducing the autophagic peroxisome degradation (pexophagy) is not known. Recently, we have found that defects in the S. cerevisiae PKA-cAMP signaling pathway due to knockouts of GPR1 and/or GPA2 suppressed glucose-induced degradation of peroxisomal thiolase. Here we report that single defects of high (SNF3) and low (RGT2) affinity glucose sensors involved in glucose-dependent induction of hexose transporters have only a slight effect on glucose-induced degradation of peroxisomal thiolase, although simultaneous defects of both sensors, SNF3 and RGT2 (which are known to strongly affect glucose transport) strongly inhibit this process in S. cerevisiae. Most likely, glucose is sensed for pexophagy using the Gpr1 sensor involved in the PKA-cAMP signaling pathway. In the methylotrophic yeast P. pastoris, however, knock out of S. cerevisiae orthologs of GPR1 and GPA2 did not affect glucose-induced degradation of oleate-induced thiolase or the methanol-induced key peroxisomal protein, alcohol oxidase. This implies that glucose sensing for pexophagy is different in baker’s and methylotrophic yeasts. Addendum to: Nazarko VY, Thevelein JM, Sibirny AA. G-protein-coupled receptor Gpr1 and G-protein Gpa2 of cAMP-dependent signaling pathway are involved in glucose-induced pexophagy in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Cell Biol Int 2007; doi:10.1016/j.cellbi.2007.11.001.