Mario Pinar

Maturation of late Golgi cisternae into RabERAB11 exocytic post-Golgi carriers visualized in vivo

Maturation of Golgi cisternae into post-Golgi carriers is directly visualized using the Aspergillus nidulans Ypt31/RAB11 homologue RabE as a reporter of post-Golgi identity. A microtubule-based conveyor belt fuels carriers to actin microfilaments radiating from the apex, which carry out the membrane-proximal transport step of exocytosis.

Searching for gold beyond mitosis: Mining intracellular membrane traffic in Aspergillus nidulans.

The genetically tractable filamentous ascomycete fungus Aspergillus nidulans has been successfully exploited to gain major insight into the eukaryotic cell cycle. More recently, its amenability to in vivo multidimensional microscopy has fueled a potentially gilded second age of A. nidulans cell biology studies. This review specifically deals with studies on intracellular membrane traffic in A. nidulans. The cellular logistics are subordinated to the needs imposed by the polarized mode of growth of the multinucleated hyphal tip cells, whereas membrane traffic is adapted to the large intracellular distances. Recent work illustrates the usefulness of this fungus for morphological and biochemical studies on endosome and Golgi maturation, and on the role of microtubule-dependent motors in the long-distance movement of endosomes. The fungus is ideally suited for genetic studies on the secretory pathway, as mutations impairing secretion reduce apical extension rates, resulting in phenotypes detectable by visual inspection of colonies.

Endosomal maturation by Rab conversion in Aspergillus nidulans is coupled to dynein- mediated basipetal movement

Highly motile fungal early endosomes can be easily distinguished from more static late endosomes and vacuoles, a feature that is exploited to study endosomal maturation. RabA/RabB early endosomes mature into RabSRab7 late endosomes as they move away from the tip where endocytosis predominates, augmenting their size, with concomitant loss of motility.

Acute inactivation of the Aspergillus nidulans Golgi membrane fusion machinery: correlation of apical extension arrest and tip swelling with cisternal disorganization

The mechanisms governing traffic across the Golgi are incompletely understood. We studied, by live‐cell microscopy, the consequences of disorganizing the Aspergillus nidulans Golgi, using an extended set of fluorescent protein markers to resolve early from late cisternae. The early Golgi syntaxin SedVSed5 and the RabORab1 regulatory GTPase play essential roles in secretion, cooperating in the ER–Golgi interface. Following a temperature shift‐up ‘on‐the‐stage’, hyphae carrying engineered sedVR258G and rabOA136D ts mutations arrest polarized growth. This arrest correlates with overall Golgi disorganization and characteristic hyphal tip swelling. Using v‐SNARE SynA as reporter, we show that the sedVR258G phenotypes correlate with arrested secretion. Both the morphogenetic defect and the secretory deficit are reversible. Thus downregulation of secretion, like that of endocytosis, has morphogenetic consequences, implying that mechanisms tuning the secretory pathway might be involved in developmental processes. According to the cisternal maturation model, acute impairment of traffic in the ER–Golgi interface should lead to disorganization of both the early and the late Golgi cisternae. Thus, the relatively rapid late Golgi disorganization observed upon shifting ER–Golgi interface mutants to the restrictive temperature seems incompatible with an A. nidulans Golgi network organized on the basis of stable early and late compartments, supporting instead cisternal maturation.

Schizosaccharomyces pombe Pxl1 Is a Paxillin Homologue That Modulates Rho1 Activity and Participates in Cytokinesis

Schizosaccharomyces pombe Rho GTPases regulate actin cytoskeleton organization and cell integrity. We studied the fission yeast gene SPBC4F6.12 based on its ability to suppress the thermosensitivity of cdc42-1625 mutant strain. This gene, named pxl1(+), encodes a protein with three LIM domains that is similar to paxillin. Pxl1 does not interact with Cdc42 but it interacts with Rho1, and it negatively regulates this GTPase. Fission yeast Pxl1 forms a contractile ring in the cell division region and deletion of pxl1(+) causes a delay in cell-cell separation, suggesting that it has a function in cytokinesis. Pxl1 N-terminal region is required and sufficient for its localization to the medial ring, whereas the LIM domains are necessary for its function. Pxl1 localization requires actin polymerization and the actomyosin ring, but it is independent of the septation initiation network (SIN) function. Moreover, Pxl1 colocalizes and interacts with Myo2, and Cdc15, suggesting that it is part of the actomyosin ring. Here, we show that in cells lacking Pxl1, the myosin ring is not correctly assembled and that actomyosin ring contraction is delayed. Together, these data suggest that Pxl1 modulates Rho1 GTPase signaling and plays a role in the formation and contraction of the actomyosin ring during cytokinesis.

Live-cell imaging of Aspergillus nidulans autophagy: RAB1 dependence, Golgi independence and ER involvement.

We exploited the amenability of the fungus Aspergillus nidulans to genetics and live-cell microscopy to investigate autophagy. Upon nitrogen starvation, GFP-Atg8-containing pre-autophagosomal puncta give rise to cup-shaped phagophores and circular (0.9-μm diameter) autophagosomes that disappear in the vicinity of the vacuoles after their shape becomes irregular and their GFP-Atg8 fluorescence decays. This ‘autophagosome cycle’ gives rise to characteristic cone-shaped traces in kymographs. Autophagy does not require endosome maturation or ESCRTs, as autophagosomes fuse with vacuoles directly in a RabS (homolog of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Ypt7 and mammalian RAB7; written hereafter as RabSRAB7)-HOPS-(homotypic fusion and vacuole protein sorting complex)-dependent manner. However, by removing RabSRAB7 or Vps41 (a component of the HOPS complex), we show that autophagosomes may still fuse, albeit inefficiently, with the endovacuolar system in a process almost certainly mediated by RabARAB5/RabBRAB5 (yeast Vps21 homologs)-CORVET (class C core vacuole/endosome tethering complex), because acute inactivation of HbrA/Vps33, a key component of HOPS and CORVET, completely precludes access of GFP-Atg8 to vacuoles without affecting autophagosome biogenesis. Using a FYVE2-GFP probe and endosomal PtdIns3P-depleted cells, we imaged PtdIns3P on autophagic membranes. PtdIns3P present on autophagosomes decays at late stages of the cycle, preceding fusion with the vacuole. Autophagy does not require Golgi traffic, but it is crucially dependent on RabORAB1. TRAPPIII-specific factor AN7311 (yeast Trs85) localizes to the phagophore assembly site (PAS) and RabORAB1 localizes to phagophores and autophagosomes. The Golgi and autophagy roles of RabORAB1 are dissociable by mutation: rabOA136D hyphae show relatively normal secretion at 28°C but are completely blocked in autophagy. This finding and the lack of Golgi traffic involvement pointed to the ER as one potential source of membranes for autophagy. In agreement, autophagosomes form in close association with ring-shaped omegasome-like ER structures resembling those described in mammalian cells.

TRAPPII regulates exocytic Golgi exit by mediating nucleotide exchange on the Ypt31 ortholog RabERAB11

Significance Ypt1 and Ypt31/32 RAB GTPases regulate traffic across the Golgi. Both are activated by TRAPP, an oligomeric GEF. Three TRAPP versions share the same core subunits. TRAPPI and TRAPPIII activate Ypt1. The third, TRAPPII, composed of TRAPPI plus specific subunits, appears to act specifically on Ypt31, but this role has been disputed. By combining the resolving power of fungal genetics with biochemical assays, we establish that the physiological target of TRAPPII is RabE, the Aspergillus Ypt31 ortholog. However, our data suggest that TRAPPII contains independent binding sites for RabE and RabO (Ypt1), possibly explaining its relative lack of discrimination in vitro. TRAPPII arrives at Golgi cisternae preceding their dissipation into carriers, determining the Golgi–to–post-Golgi transition through RabE recruitment. The oligomeric complex transport protein particle I (TRAPPI) mediates nucleotide exchange on the RAB GTPase RAB1/Ypt1. TRAPPII is composed of TRAPPI plus three additional subunits, Trs120, Trs130, and Trs65. Unclear is whether TRAPPII mediates nucleotide exchange on RAB1/Ypt1, RAB11/Ypt31, or both. In Aspergillus nidulans, RabORAB1 resides in the Golgi, RabERAB11 localizes to exocytic post-Golgi carriers undergoing transport to the apex, and hypA encodes Trs120. RabERAB11, but not RabORAB1, immunoprecipitates contain Trs120/Trs130/Trs65, demonstrating specific association of TRAPPII with RabERAB11 in vivo. hypA1ts rapidly shifts RabERAB11, but not RabORAB1, to the cytosol, consistent with HypATrs120 being specifically required for RabERAB11 activation. Missense mutations rescuing hypA1ts at 42 °C mapped to rabE, affecting seven residues. Substitutions in six, of which four resulted in 7- to 36-fold accelerated GDP release, rescued lethality associated to TRAPPII deficiency, whereas equivalent substitutions in RabORAB1 did not, establishing that the essential role of TRAPPII is facilitating RabERAB11 nucleotide exchange. In vitro, TRAPPII purified with HypATrs120-S-tag accelerates nucleotide exchange on RabERAB11 and, paradoxically, to a lesser yet substantial extent, on RabORAB1. Evidence obtained by exploiting hypA1-mediated destabilization of HypATrs120/HypCTrs130/Trs65 assembly onto the TRAPPI core indicates that these subunits sculpt a second RAB binding site on TRAPP apparently independent from that for RabORAB1, which would explain TRAPPII in vitro activity on two RABs. Using A. nidulans in vivo microscopy, we show that HypATrs120 colocalizes with RabERAB11, arriving at late Golgi cisternae as they dissipate into exocytic carriers. Thus, TRAPPII marks, and possibly determines, the Golgi–to–post-Golgi transition.

Negative Functional Interaction Between Cell Integrity MAPK Pathway and Rho1 GTPase in Fission Yeast

Rho1 GTPase is the main activator of cell wall glucan biosynthesis and regulates actin cytoskeleton in fungi, including Schizosaccharomyces pombe. We have obtained a fission yeast thermosensitive mutant strain carrying the rho1-596 allele, which displays reduced Rho1 GTPase activity. This strain has severe cell wall defects and a thermosensitive growth, which is partially suppressed by osmotic stabilization. In a global screening for rho1-596 multicopy suppresors the pmp1+ gene was identified. Pmp1 is a dual specificity phosphatase that negatively regulates the Pmk1 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cell integrity pathway. Accordingly, elimination of Pmk1 MAPK partially rescued rho1-596 thermosensitivity, corroborating the unexpected antagonistic functional relationship of these genes. We found that rho1-596 cells displayed increased basal activation of the cell integrity MAPK pathway and therefore were hypersensitive to MgCl2 and FK506. Moreover, the absence of calcineurin was lethal for rho1-596. We found a higher level of calcineurin activity in rho1-596 than in wild-type cells, and overexpression of constitutively active calcineurin partially rescued rho1-596 thermosensitivity. All together our results suggest that loss of Rho1 function causes an increase in the cell integrity MAPK activity, which is detrimental to the cells and turns calcineurin activity essential.

Cooperation between Paxillin-like Protein Pxl1 and Glucan Synthase Bgs1 Is Essential for Actomyosin Ring Stability and Septum Formation in Fission Yeast

In fungal cells cytokinesis requires coordinated closure of a contractile actomyosin ring (CAR) and synthesis of a special cell wall structure known as the division septum. Many CAR proteins have been identified and characterized, but how these molecules interact with the septum synthesis enzymes to form the septum remains unclear. Our genetic study using fission yeast shows that cooperation between the paxillin homolog Pxl1, required for ring integrity, and Bgs1, the enzyme responsible for linear β(1,3)glucan synthesis and primary septum formation, is required for stable anchorage of the CAR to the plasma membrane before septation onset, and for cleavage furrow formation. Thus, lack of Pxl1 in combination with Bgs1 depletion, causes failure of ring contraction and lateral cell wall overgrowth towards the cell lumen without septum formation. We also describe here that Pxl1 concentration at the CAR increases during cytokinesis and that this increase depends on the SH3 domain of the F-BAR protein Cdc15. In consequence, Bgs1 depletion in cells carrying a cdc15ΔSH3 allele causes ring disassembly and septation blockage, as it does in cells lacking Pxl1. On the other hand, the absence of Pxl1 is lethal when Cdc15 function is affected, generating a large sliding of the CAR with deposition of septum wall material along the cell cortex, and suggesting additional functions for both Pxl1 and Cdc15 proteins. In conclusion, our findings indicate that CAR anchorage to the plasma membrane through Cdc15 and Pxl1, and concomitant Bgs1 activity, are necessary for CAR maintenance and septum formation in fission yeast.

The Aspergillus nidulans syntaxin PepA(Pep12) is regulated by two Sec1/Munc-18 proteins to mediate fusion events at early endosomes, late endosomes and vacuoles.

Syntaxins are target‐SNAREs that crucially contribute to determine membrane compartment identity. Three syntaxins, Tlg2p, Pep12p and Vam3p, organize the yeast endovacuolar system. Remarkably, filamentous fungi lack the equivalent of the yeast vacuolar syntaxin Vam3p, making unclear how these organisms regulate vacuole fusion. We show that the nearly essential Aspergillus nidulans syntaxin PepAPep12, present in all endocytic compartments between early endosomes and vacuoles, shares features of Vam3p and Pep12p, and is capable of forming compositional equivalents of all known yeast endovacuolar SNARE bundles including that formed by yeast Vam3p for vacuolar fusion. Our data further indicate that regulation by two Sec1/Munc‐18 proteins, Vps45 in early endosomes and Vps33 in early and late endosomes/vacuoles contributes to the wide domain of PepAPep12 action. The syntaxin TlgBTlg2 localizing to the TGN appears to mediate retrograde traffic connecting post‐Golgi (sorting) endosomes with the TGN. TlgBTlg2 is dispensable for growth but becomes essential if the early Golgi syntaxin SedVSed5 is compromised, showing that the Golgi can function with a single syntaxin, SedVSed5. Remarkably, its pattern of associations with endosomal SNAREs is consistent with SedVSed5 playing roles in retrograde pathway(s) connecting endocytic compartments downstream of the post‐Golgi endosome with the Golgi, besides more conventional intra‐Golgi roles.