Research, Research Articles

Non-canonical regulation of glutathione and trehalose biosynthesis characterizes non-Saccharomyces wine yeasts with poor performance in active dry yeast production

Esther Gamero-Sandemetrio1, Lucía Payá-Tormo1, Rocío Gómez-Pastor1,3, Agustín Aranda1,2 and Emilia Matallana1,2

Several yeast species, belonging to Saccharomyces and non-Saccharomyces genera, play fundamental roles during spontaneous must grape fermentation, and recent studies have shown that mixed fermentations, co-inoculated with S. cerevisiae and non-Saccharomyces strains, can improve wine organoleptic properties. Here, Gamero-Sandemetrio et al. present findings that non-canonical regulation of glutathione and trehalose biosynthesis could cause poor fermentative performance after active dry yeast (ADY) production, as it corroborates the corrective effect of antioxidant treatments, during biomass propagation, with both pure chemicals and food-grade argan oil.

Molecular signature of the imprintosome complex at the mating-type locus in fission yeast

Célia Raimondi1, Bernd Jagla2, Caroline Proux3, Hervé Waxin4, Serge Gangloff1, Benoit Arcangioli1

Genetic and molecular studies have indicated that an epigenetic imprint at mat1, the sexual locus of fission yeast, initiates mating type switching. Here, Raimondi et al. characterized the recruitment of early players of mating type switching at the mat1 region and suggest a nucleoprotein protective structure defined as imprintosome.

Leishmania guyanensis parasites block the activation of the inflammasome by inhibiting maturation of IL-1β

Mary-Anne Hartley1,¶, Remzi O. Eren1,¶, Matteo Rossi1, Florence Prevel1, Patrik Castiglioni1, Nathalie Isorce1, Chantal Desponds1, Lon-Fye Lye2, Stephen M. Beverley2, Stefan K. Drexler1,&, Nicolas Fasel1,&

The various symptomatic outcomes of cutaneous leishmaniasis relates to the type and potency of its underlying inflammatory responses mediated by Toll-Like-Receptor-3 (TLR3). Here, Hartely et al. investigated other innate pattern recognition receptors capable of reacting to dsRNA and potentially contributing to LRV1-mediated inflammatory pathology. They postulate that avoidance of the inflammasome pathways is likely an important mechanism of virulence in Leishmania infection irrespective of the LRV1-status.

A novel system to monitor mitochondrial translation in yeast

Tamara Suhm1, Lukas Habernig2, Magdalena Rzepka1, Jayasankar Mohanakrishnan Kaimal3, Claes Andréasson3, Sabrina Büttner2,3 and Martin Ott1

In this study Suhm et al. present a novel system to monitor mitochondrial translation by detection of mitochondrial GFP-translation through fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry in functional mitochondria. This novel tool allows the investigation of the function and regulation of mitochondrial translation during stress signaling, aging and mitochondrial biogenesis.

Fat storage-inducing transmembrane (FIT or FITM) proteins are related to lipid phosphatase/phosphotransferase enzymes

Matthew J Hayes1, Vineet Choudhary2, Namrata Ojha2, John JH Shin3, Gil-Soo Han4, George M. Carman4, Christopher JR Loewen3, William A Prinz2 and Timothy P Levine1

Fat storage-inducing transmembrane (FIT or FITM) proteins have been implicated in the partitioning of triacylglycerol to lipid droplets and the budding of lipid droplets from the ER. Saccharomyces cerevisiae has two FITM homologues and the presented results suggest that Scs3p and Yft2p as well as FITMs in general are lipid phosphatase/phosphotransferase (LPT) enzymes involved in an as yet unknown critical step in phospholipid metabolism.

Yeast quiescence exit swiftness is influenced by cell volume and chronological age

Damien Laporte1, Laure Jimenez1, Laëtitia Gouleme1, Isabelle Sagot1

Quiescence exit swiftness is crucial not only for micro-organisms in competition for an environmental niche, such as yeast, but also for the maintenance of tissue homeostasis in multicellular species. Here, Laporte et al. explore the effect of replicative and chronological age on Saccharomyces cerevisiae quiescence exit efficiency. Overall, their data illustrate that the quiescent state is a continuum evolving with time, early and deep quiescence being distinguishable by the cell’s proficiency to re-enter the proliferation cycle.

A versatile plasmid system for reconstitution and analysis of mammalian ubiquitination cascades in yeast

Rossella Avagliano Trezza1,#, Janny van den Burg1, Nico van den Oever1 and Ben Distel1,2

In this article Avagliano Trezza et al. describe a versatile vector system that allows the reconstitution of specific ubiquitination cascades in the model eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisae (baker’s yeast) that provides a versatile tool to study complex post-translational modifications in a cellular setting.

Alcohols enhance the rate of acetic acid diffusion in S. cerevisiae : biophysical mechanisms and implications for acetic acid tolerance

Lina Lindahl1, Samuel Genheden2, Fábio Faria-Oliveira1, Stefan Allard3, Leif A. Eriksson2, Lisbeth Olsson1, Maurizio Bettiga1,4

Microbial cell factories with the ability to maintain high productivity in the presence of weak organic acids, such as acetic acid, are required in many industrial processes. This study demonstrates that the rate of acetic acid diffusion can be strongly affected by compounds that partition into the cell membrane, and highlights the need for considering interaction effects between compounds in the design of microbial processes.

Mitochondrial energy metabolism is required for lifespan extension by the spastic paraplegia-associated protein spartin

Julia Ring1, Patrick Rockenfeller1, 3, Claudia Abraham1, Jelena Tadic1, Michael Poglitsch1, Katherina Schimmel1, 4, Julia Westermayer1, Simon Schauer1, Bettina Achleitner1, Christa Schimpel1, 5, Barbara Moitzi1, Gerald N. Rechberger1, 6, Stephan J. Sigrist7, 8, Didac Carmona-Gutierrez1, Guido Kroemer9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, Sabrina Büttner1, 16, Tobias Eisenberg1, 2, Frank Madeo1, 2

This article indicates that spartin, a protein linked to hereditary spastic paraplegias, extends yeast lifespan and reduces age-related damage by associating with mitochondria and interacting with key metabolic proteins, implicating energy metabolism in its protective role during aging.

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A metagenomic approach to unveil the association between fecal gut microbiota and short-chain fatty acids in diarrhea caused by diarrheagenic Escherichia coli in children

April 30, 2024

Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) is the main cause of diarrhea in children under five years old. The virulence of DEC is tightly regulated by environmental signals influenced by the gut microbiota and its metabolites. Our results increase the knowledge of the association between short chain fatty acids during diarrhea and changes in the microbiota composition associated with the presence of DEC pathogens.

The effect of multiple sclerosis therapy on gut microbiota dysbiosis: a longitudinal prospective study

April 6, 2024

The gut microbiota, a complex ecosystem with various immune functions, plays a significant role in MS, and its response to different treatments is highlighted in this study. In clinical practice, maintaining a healthy microbiota is crucial for individuals with MS.

Comparison of microbial communities and the profile of sulfate-reducing bacteria in patients with ulcerative colitis and their association with bowel diseases: a pilot study

March 14, 2024

Considerable evidence has accumulated regarding the molecular relationship between gut microbiota (GM) composition and the onset (clinical presentation and prognosis) of ulcerative colitis UC. Our findings highlight, among other observations, significant variations in the gut microbial composition among patients with varying disease severity and activity.

Replicative aging in yeast involves dynamic intron retention patterns associated with mRNA processing/export and protein ubiquitination

February 27, 2024

Saccharomyces cerevisiae has yielded relevant insights into some of the basic mechanisms of organismal aging. Among these are genomic instability, oxidative stress, caloric restriction and mitochondrial dysfunction. Our work uncovers a previously unexplored layer of the transcriptional program of yeast aging and, more generally, expands the knowledge on the occurrence of alternative splicing in baker´s yeast.

Quantifying yeast lipidomics by high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) and comparison to mass spectrometry-based shotgun lipidomics

February 21, 2024

Lipidomic analysis in diverse biological settings has become a frequent tool to increase our understanding of the processes of life. Here we describe a method to analyse basic lipidomics in yeast using HPTLC and offer comparison to measurement of the same samples with MS-based shotgun lipidomics.

A cobalt concentration sensitive Btu-like system facilitates cobalamin uptake in Anabaena sp. PCC 7120

February 20, 2024

Metal homeostasis is central to all forms of life, as metals are essential micronutrients with toxic effects at elevated levels. Our results provide novel information on the uptake of cobalamin and the regulation of the cellular cobalt content in cyanobacteria.

Predictable regulation of survival by intratumoral microbe-immune crosstalk in patients with lung adenocarcinoma

February 19, 2024

Intratumoral microbiota can regulate the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) and mediate tumor prognosis by promoting inflammatory response or inhibiting anti-tumor effects. Our study demonstrated that intratumoral microbiota-immune crosstalk was strongly associated with prognosis in LUAD patients, which would provide new targets for the development of precise therapeutic strategies.

Two TonB-dependent outer membrane transporters involved in heme uptake in Anabaena sp. PCC 7120

January 9, 2024

Low availability of micronutrients such as iron has enforced the evolution of uptake systems in all kingdoms of life. In our study, we conclude that heme transport might not be restricted to Anabaena, but at the same time is not specific to a cyanobacterial order and thus might be related to the habitat of origin, a notion which needs to be challenged in the future.

The last two transmembrane helices in the APC-type FurE transporter act as an intramolecular chaperone essential for concentrative ER-exit

January 5, 2024

FurE is a H+ symporter specific for the cellular uptake of uric acid, allantoin, uracil, and toxic nucleobase analogues in the fungus Aspergillus nidulans. Being member of the NCS1 protein family, FurE is structurally related to the APC-superfamily of transporters.

Extracellular DNA secreted in yeast cultures is metabolism-specific and inhibits cell proliferation

November 23, 2023

Our study demonstrates that extracellular DNA released by living cells can impact the growth rate of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cultures, showing similarities to extrachromosomal circular DNA and leading to cell cycle arrest in the S phase, suggesting potential new functional roles of exDNA.

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