Research, Research Articles

Overexpression of the transcription factor Yap1 modifies intracellular redox conditions and enhances recombinant protein secretion

Marizela Delic1,2, Alexandra B. Graf2,3, Gunda Koellensperger1,4, Christina Haberhauer-Troyer1,4, Stephan Hann1,4, Diethard Mattanovich1,2, Brigitte Gasser1,2

This article investigates the role of Yap1 during the production of recombinant secretory proteins in glucose based growth conditions in Pichia pastoris, and reports a novel role of Yap1 during ER-resident oxidative protein folding.

Functional analysis of lipid metabolism genes in wine yeasts during alcoholic fermentation at low temperature

María López-Malo1,2, Estéfani García-Ríos1, Rosana Chiva1 and José Manuel Guillamon1

This study confirms the importance of specific genes in growth and fermentation activity of Saccharomyces cerevisiae at low temperature.

Angiotensin II type 1 receptor blockers increase tolerance of cells to copper and cisplatin

Pieter Spincemaille1,+, Gursimran Chandhok2,+, Andree Zibert2, Hartmut Schmidt2, Jef Verbeek3, Patrick Chaltin4,5, Bruno P.A. Cammue1,6,#, David Cassiman3, Karin Thevissen1,#

This study reports the identification of the drug class of Angiotensin II Type 1 receptor blockers (ARBs) and shows that specific ARBs increase yeast tolerance to Cu and Cp, and affect markers of Cu-induced apoptosis. Likewise, this study finds that specific ARBs increase human cell line tolerance to Cu and decrease the prevalence of apoptotic markers.

An extensive endoplasmic reticulum-localised glycoprotein family in trypanosomatids

Harriet Allison1, Amanda J. O’Reilly1, Jeremy Sternberg2 and Mark C. Field1

This work describes a novel family of type I membrane proteins ("invariant glycoproteins") and proposes them as trypanosomatid-specific ER-localised glycoproteins, with potential contributions to life cycle progression and immunity, that utilise oligomerisation as an ER retention mechanism.

Time resolved DNA occupancy dynamics during the respiratory oscillation uncover a global reset point in the yeast growth program

Cornelia Amariei, Rainer Machné, Viktor Stolc, Tomoyoshi Soga, Masaru Tomita and Douglas B. Murray

Using multiple approaches, this work implies a nucleosome focusing event as a key step that resets transcription during the respiratory oscillation.

Cell wall dynamics modulate acetic acid-induced apoptotic cell death of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

António Rego#, Ana Marta Duarte#, Flávio Azevedo#, Maria João Sousa, Manuela Côrte-Real and Susana R. Chaves

This work characterizes the involvement of MAPK signaling pathways in cell death induced by acetic acid in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Extracellular calcium triggers unique transcriptional programs and modulates staurosporine-induced cell death in Neurospora crassa

A. Pedro Gonçalves1,2, João Monteiro2, Chiara Lucchi2, David J. Kowbel3, J. Miguel Cordeiro1,4, Paulo Correia-de-Sá1,4, Daniel J. Rigden5, N. Louise Glass3, Arnaldo Videira1,2

The results presented here reveal that in Neurospora crassa, extracellular Ca2+ modulates cell death and the transcriptional alterations induced by staurosporine, and lead to the identification of two novel putative Ca2+-binding proteins, encoded by the NCU08524 and NCU06607 genes.

Multiple metabolic requirements for size homeostasis and initiation of division in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Shivatheja Soma, Kailu Yang, Maria I. Morales and Michael Polymenis

This article reveals an unexpected diversity in the G1 cell cycle phenotypes of metabolic and biosynthetic Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutants, suggesting that growth requirements for cell division are multiple, distinct and imposed throughout the G1 phase of the cell cycle.

Exogenous addition of histidine reduces copper availability in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Daisuke Watanabe, Rie Kikushima, Miho Aitoku, Akira Nishimura, Iwao Ohtsu, Ryo Nasuno, and Hiroshi Takagi

The herein presented results indicate that in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, histidine cytotoxicity is associated with low copper availability inside cells, not with impaired copper uptake. Furthermore, it suggests that histidine cytotoxicity is involved in deficiency of mitochondrial copper.

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Basal level of ppGpp coordinates Escherichia coli cell heterogeneity and ampicillin resistance and persistence

October 25, 2023

The universal stringent response alarmone ppGpp (guanosine penta and tetra phosphates) plays a crucial role in various aspects of fundamental cell physiology (e.g., cell growth rate, cell size) and thus bacterial tolerance to and survival of external stresses, including antibiotics. In tihs study, we discuss the fundamental role of basal level of ppGpp in regulating cell homogeneity and ampicillin persistence.

Investigation of the acetic acid stress response in Saccharomyces cerevisiae with mutated H3 residues

August 18, 2023

Yeast cells respond to acetic acid in diverse ways. Here, we have elucidated the deleterious effects of acetic acid on different histone mutants

The coenzyme B12 precursor 5,6-dimethylbenzimidazole is a flavin antagonist in Salmonella

August 17, 2023

Here we investigated why 5,6-dimethylbenzimidazole (DMB) inhibits in S. Typhimurium. Briefly, we determined that the structural similarities of the substituted benzene ring of DMB with the isoalloxazine moiety of flavins is responsible for the deleterious effects of this CoB12 precursor.

GFP fusions of Sec-routed extracellular proteins in Staphylococcus aureus reveal surface-associated coagulase in biofilms

June 28, 2023

We show that msfGFP can be used to generate extracellular fluorescent fusion proteins in S. aureus, applicable for proteins that are secreted through the Sec pathway. When fused to coagulase, msfGFP did not hinder the biological function, and the fusion protein localised to the fibrin pseudocapsule surrounding clusters of S. aureus cells.

Acetate modulates the inhibitory effect of Lactobacillus gasseri against the pathogenic yeasts Candida albicans and Candida glabrata

March 21, 2023

The results herein described advance the design of new anti-Candida therapies based on probiotics, in particular, those based on vaginal lactobacilli species, helping to reduce the significant burden that infections caused by Candida have today in human health.

D-Serine reduces the expression of the cytopathic genotoxin colibactin

March 8, 2023

Sensing and responding to environmental cues and signalling molecules is crucial for bacterial survival. In this study we have identified a D-amino acid that has a strong regulatory effect on the pks genomic island which encodes for biosynthesis genes for the genotoxic compound colibactin.

A modular cloning (MoClo) toolkit for reliable intracellular protein targeting in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

February 28, 2023

In this study, we describe an advanced Molecular cloning toolkit that is designed for the baker’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and optimized for the targeting of proteins of interest to specific cellular compartments.

The role of invariant surface glycoprotein 75 in xenobiotic acquisition by African trypanosomes

January 27, 2023

By CRISPR/Cas9 knockout and biophysical analysis, we show here that the invariant surface glycoprotein 75 directly binds the the century-old drug suramin and mediates uptake of additional naphthol-related compounds, making this glycoprotein a conduit for entry of at least one structural class of trypanocidal compounds.

The first taxonomic and functional characterization of human CAVD-associated microbiota

January 13, 2023

Calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) is the most common heart valve disorder, defined by a remodeling multistep process. In this study, we aimed to investigate and characterize the presence of valvular microbiota and the associated immune response in human CAV samples originating from two European populations.

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