Claudio Falcone

Transformation of the yeast Kluyveromyces lactis by new vectors derived from the 1.6 μm circular plasmid pKD1

SummaryThe circular plasmid pKD1 (or 1.6 μm DNA) has recently been isolated from Kluyveromyces drosophilarum. This plasmid appears to have a functional organization analogous to that of the 2 μ DNA of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, although the respective nucleotide sequences show little homology. pKD1 can be transferred to Kluyveromyces lactis where it is replicated stably. Using recombinant molecules derived from pKDl, a practical transformation system has been developed for Kluyveromyces lactis, with an efficiency and stability comparable to the 2 μ-based Saccharomyces cerevisiae transformation system.

Caspase-dependent apoptosis in yeast

Damaging environment, certain intracellular defects or heterologous expression of pro-apoptotic genes induce death in yeast cells exhibiting typical markers of apoptosis. In mammals, apoptosis can be directed by the activation of groups of proteases, called caspases, that cleave specific substrates and trigger cell death. In addition, in plants, fungi, Dictyostelium and metazoa, paracaspases and metacaspases have been identified that share some homologies with caspases but showing different substrate specificity. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a gene (MCA1/YCA1) has been identified coding for a metacaspase involved in the induction of cell death. Metacaspases are not biochemical, but sequence and functional homologes of caspases, as deletion of them rescues entirely different death scenarios. In this review we will summarize the current knowledge in S. cerevisiae on apoptotic processes, induced by internal and external triggers, which are dependent on the metacaspase gene YCA1.

Yeast caspase 1 links messenger RNA stability to apoptosis in yeast.

During the past years, yeasts have been successfully established as models to study the mechanisms of apoptotic regulation. We recently showed that mutations in the LSM4 gene, which is involved in messenger RNA decapping, lead to increased mRNA stability and apoptosis in yeast. Here, we show that mitochondrial function and YCA1, which encodes a budding yeast metacaspase, are necessary for apoptosis triggered by stabilization of mRNAs. Deletion of YCA1 in yeast cells mutated in the LSM4 gene prevents mitochondrial fragmentation and rapid cell death during chronological ageing of the culture, diminishes reactive oxygen species accumulation and DNA breakage, and increases resistance to H2O2 and acetic acid. mRNA levels in lsm4 mutants deleted for YCA1 are still increased, positioning the Yca1 budding yeast caspase as a downstream executor of cell death induced by mRNA perturbations. In addition, we show that mitochondrial function is necessary for fast death during chronological ageing, as well as in LSM4 mutated and wild‐type cells.

New arylthioindoles and related bioisosteres at the sulfur bridging group. 4. Synthesis, tubulin polymerization, cell growth inhibition, and molecular modeling studies.

New arylthioindoles along with the corresponding ketone and methylene compounds were potent tubulin assembly inhibitors. As growth inhibitors of MCF-7 cells, sulfur derivatives were superior or sometimes equivalent to the ketones, while methylene derivatives were substantially less effective. Esters 24, 27-29, 36, 39, and 41 showed approximately 50% of inhibition on human HeLa and HCT116/chr3 cells at 0.5 microM, and these compounds inhibited the growth of HEK, M14, and U937 cells with IC(50)s in the 78-220 nM range. While murine macrophage J744.1 cell growth was significantly less affected (20% at higher concentrations), four other nontransformed cell lines remained sensitive to these esters. The effect of drug treatment on cell morphology was examined by time-lapse microscopy. In a protocol set up to evaluate toxicity on the Saccharomyces cerevisiae BY4741 wild type strain, compounds 24 and 54 strongly reduced cell growth, and 29, 36, and 39 also showed significant inhibition.

Analysis of a 1.6-μm circular plasmid from the yeast Kluyveromyces drosophilarum: structure and molecular dimorphism

A new plasmid has been found in the yeast Kluyveromyces drosophilarum. It is a double-stranded circular DNA, 1.6 micron in length (4.8 kilobase pairs). As in the case of Saccharomyces 2 mu circles, this plasmid occurs in two isomeric forms corresponding to the inversion of a segment between two 346-bp-long inverted repeats within the molecule. Each form has been separately cloned into bacterial plasmids. The new yeast plasmid, called pKD1, contains sequences that allow its replication in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Ethanol-induced and glucose-insensitive alcohol dehydrogenase activity in the yeast Kluyveromyces lactis

The alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) system in the yeast Kluyveromyces lactis is encoded by four ADH genes. In this paper we report evidence that at least three of these genes are transcribed and transcribed into protein. KIADH1 and KIADH2, which encode cytoplasmic activities, are preferentially expressed in glucose‐grown cells with respect to ethanol‐grown cells. KIADH4, which encodes one of the two activities localized within mitochondria, is induced at the transcriptional level in the presence of ethanol as is the ADH2 gene in Saccharomyces cerevlslae. However the regulation of the expression of the K. lactis gene is completely different from that of ADH2 and of other known ADH genes in that KIADH4 is insensitive to glucose repression and is not expressed on non‐fermentabie carbon sources other than ethanol. This km6 of regulation can be clearly observed in non‐fermenting strains, where the induction of KIADH4 is dependent on the addition of ethanol to the medium. On the contrary, in fermenting strains KIADH4 is always induced by ethanol or acetaldehyde produced endocellularly and this results in constitutive expression of the gene aiso in the presence of glucose. The mitochondrial localization of the activity encoded by KIADH4 and the peculiar regulation of this gene could be related to the fact that K. lactis is a petite negative yeast in which some mitochondrial functions seem to be essential for cell viability.

Two mitochondrial alcohol dehydrogenase activities of Kluyveromyces lactis are differently expressed during respiration and fermentation

The lactose-utilizing yeast Kluyveromyces lactis is an essentially aerobic organism in which both respiration and fermentation can coexist depending on the sugar concentration. Despite a low fermentative capacity as compared to Saccharomyces cerevisiae, four structural genes encoding alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activities are present in this yeast. Two of these activities, namely KlADH III and KlADH IV, are located within mitochondria and their presence is dependent on the carbon sources in the medium. In this paper we demonstrate by transcription and activity analysis that KlADH3 is expressed in the presence of low glucose concentrations and in the presence of respiratory carbon sources other than ethanol. Indeed ethanol acts as a strong repressor of this gene. On the other hand, KlADH4 is induced by the presence of ethanol and not by other respiratory carbon sources. We also demonstrate that the presence of KlADH III and KlADH IV in K. lactis cells is dependent on glucose concentration, glucose uptake and the amount of ethanol produced. As a consequence, these activities can be used as markers for the onset of respiratory and fermentative metabolism in this yeast.

Structural and biochemical studies of alcohol dehydrogenase isozymes from Kluyveromyces lactis

The cytosolic and mitochondrial alcohol dehydrogenases from Kluyveromyces lactis (KlADHs) were purified and characterised. Both the N-terminally blocked cytosolic isozymes, KlADH I and KlADH II, were strictly NAD-dependent and exhibited catalytic properties similar to those previously reported for other yeast ADHs. Conversely, the mitochondrial isozymes, KlADH III and KlADH IV, displayed Ala and Asn, respectively, as N-termini and were able to oxidise at an increased rate primary alcohols with aliphatic chains longer than ethanol, such as propanol, butanol, pentanol and hexanol. Interestingly, the mitochondrial KlADHs, at variance with cytosolic isozymes and the majority of ADHs from other sources, were capable of accepting as a cofactor, and in some case almost equally well, either NAD or NADP. Since Asp-223 of horse liver ADH, thought to be responsible for the selection of NAD as coenzyme, is strictly conserved in all the KlADH isozymes, this amino-acid residue should not be considered critical for the coenzyme discrimination with respect to the other residues lining the coenzyme binding pocket of the mitochondrial isozymes. The relatively low specificity of the mitochondrial KlADHs both toward the alcohols and the cofactor could be explained on the basis of an enhanced flexibility of the corresponding catalytic pockets. An involvement of the mitochondrial KlADH isozymes in the physiological reoxidation of the cytosolic NADPH was also hypothesized. Moreover, both cytosolic and KlADH IV isozymes have an additional cysteine, not involved in zinc binding, that could be responsible for the increased activity in the presence of 2-mercaptoethanol.

Apoptosis and aging in mitochondrial morphology mutants ofS. cerevisiae

Cell viability during chronological aging and after apoptotic stimuli in some yeast mutants with altered mitochondrial morphology was followed; a function for the corresponding genes in the apoptotic process was assessed.MDM30 andDNM1, the genes encoding an F-box protein and the dynamin-related GTPase, respectively, are involved in triggering aging and apoptosis. In contrast,YME1, encoding a subunit of the mitochondrial inner membrane i-AAA proteinase complex, has a protective role in these processes.FIS1, the mitochondrial fission gene, might play a protective role after an apoptotic insult while it seems to promote cell death in aging cells.

The Deletion of the Succinate Dehydrogenase Gene KlSDH1 in Kluyveromyces lactis Does Not Lead to Respiratory Deficiency

ABSTRACT We have isolated a Kluyveromyces lactis mutant unable to grow on all respiratory carbon sources with the exception of lactate. Functional complementation of this mutant led to the isolation of KlSDH1, the gene encoding the flavoprotein subunit of the succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) complex, which is essential for the aerobic utilization of carbon sources. Despite the high sequence conservation of the SDH genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and K. lactis, they do not have the same relevance in the metabolism of the two yeasts. In fact, unlike SDH1, KlSDH1 was highly expressed under both fermentative and nonfermentative conditions. In addition to this, but in contrast with S. cerevisiae, K. lactis strains lacking KlSDH1 were still able to grow in the presence of lactate. In these mutants, oxygen consumption was one-eighth that of the wild type in the presence of lactate and was normal with glucose and ethanol, indicating that the respiratory chain was fully functional. Northern analysis suggested that alternative pathway(s), which involves pyruvate decarboxylase and the glyoxylate cycle, could overcome the absence of SDH and allow (i) lactate utilization and (ii) the accumulation of succinate instead of ethanol during growth on glucose.