Research, Research Reports

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.

A genome-wide screen for FTY720-sensitive mutants reveals genes required for ROS homeostasis

Kanako Hagihara1, Kanako Kinoshita1, Kouki Ishida1, Shihomi Hojo1, Yoshinori Kameoka1, Ryosuke Satoh1, Teruaki Takasaki1 and Reiko Sugiura1

Fingolimod hydrochloride (FTY720) is an immune modulator for multiple sclerosis that also induces cancer cell apoptosis through reactive oxygen species generation, with a new study using fission yeast uncovering a gene network related to ROS homeostasis as a possible mechanism of FTY720's toxicity.

Untargeted metabolomics confirms and extends the understanding of the impact of aminoimidazole carboxamide ribotide (AICAR) in the metabolic network of Salmonella enterica

Jannell V. Bazurto1, Stephen P. Dearth2, Eric D. Tague2, Shawn R. Campagna2 and Diana M. Downs1

In Salmonella enterica, aminoimidazole carboxamide ribotide (AICAR) is a purine biosynthetic intermediate and a substrate of the AICAR transformylase/IMP cyclohydrolase (PurH) enzyme. Data herein describe the use of metabolomics to identify the metabolic state of mutant strains and probe the underlying mechanisms used by AICAR to inhibit thiamine synthesis. The results obtained provide a cautionary tale of using metabolite concentrations as the only data to define the physiological state of a bacterial cell.

The cytosolic glyoxalases of Plasmodium falciparum are dispensable during asexual blood-stage development

Cletus A. Wezena1, Romy Alisch1, Alexandra Golzmann2, Linda Liedgens1, Verena Staudacher1,3, Gabriele Pradel2 and Marcel Deponte1,3

In this study the authors demonstrate that, PfGlo1 and PfcGlo2 are dispensable during asexual blood-stage development while the loss of PfcGlo2 may induce the formation of transmissible gametocytes. These combined data show that PfGlo1 and PfcGlo2 are most likely not suited as targets for selective drug development against the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum.

Aminoglycoside resistance profile and structural architecture of the aminoglycoside acetyltransferase AAC(6’)-Im

Clyde A. Smith1, Monolekha Bhattacharya2, Marta Toth2, Nichole K. Stewart2 and Sergei B. Vakulenko2

AAC(6')-Im, a monofunctional acetyltransferase, imparts increased resistance to certain aminoglycosides compared to its bifunctional homolog AAC(6')-Ie, with structural studies revealing differences in substrate binding that explain the discrepancies in their enzymatic activity and resistance profiles.

Cross-species complementation of bacterial- and eukaryotic-type cardiolipin synthases

Petra Gottier1, Mauro Serricchio1, Rita Vitale2, Angela Corcelli2, and Peter Bütikofer1

This article shows that cardiolipin is crucial for cellular respiration and membrane integrity, with cardiolipin synthase enzymes like TbCLS in Trypanosoma brucei being potential drug targets due to their essential role in survival. The study demonstrates TbCLS's ability to restore cardiolipin production in yeast, highlighting the specificity and potential co-localization required for cardiolipin synthesis and remodeling, and underscoring the differences between eukaryotic and prokaryotic cardiolipin synthase mechanisms.

Identification of SUMO conjugation sites in the budding yeast proteome

Miguel Esteras1, I-Chun Liu1, Ambrosius P. Snijders2, Adam Jarmuz1 and Luis Aragon1

The authors present a proteomic study that mapped SUMO acceptor lysines in budding yeast, identifying 257 potential conjugation sites, including both known and novel substrates, and providing a significant resource for future research into the functional implications of SUMOylation in yeast.

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A time-resolved high-throughput screening of fission yeast deletion mutants for oxidative stress resistance

July 22, 2026

By capturing dynamic trajectories rather than static outcomes, this study exposes hidden layers of growth under oxidative stress and identifies new genetic determinants of cellular resilience in fission yeast.

Uga3 influences nitrogen metabolism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by modulating arginine biosynthesis

June 12, 2025

Nitrogen metabolism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is tightly regulated to optimize the utilization of available nitrogen sources. Uga3 is a known transcription factor involved in the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) pathway; however, its broader role in nitrogen metabolism remains unclear.

Microwave-assisted preparation of yeast cells for ultrastructural analysis by electron microscopy

November 18, 2024

Budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is widely used as a model organism to study the biogenesis and architecture of organellar membranes, which can be visualized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM).

Direct detection of stringent alarmones (pp)pGpp using malachite green

August 5, 2024

In this study, we demonstrate the surprising discovery of a commercially available, low-cost malachite green (MG) detection kit, originally designed for orthophosphate (Pi) detection, for detecting (p)ppGpp and its analogues, especially pGpp

Unresolved mystery of cyclic nucleotide second messengers, periplasmic acid phosphatases and bacterial natural competence

July 18, 2024

In this study we aimed to identify the promotors responsible for the expression of the non-specific acid phosphatase AphA during different starvation conditions, to confirm the requirement of the cAMP-dependent CRP regulon for aphA expression, and to finally identify regulators of its expression.

Yeast gene KTI13 (alias DPH8) operates in the initiation step of diphthamide synthesis on elongation factor 2

August 8, 2023

We show here that apart from its effector role for Elongator-dependent tRNA modification in yeast, Kti13 alias Dph8 also operates in step one of the diphthamide modification pathway.

Caspase 3 exhibits a yeast metacaspase proteostasis function that protects mitochondria from toxic TDP43 aggregates

July 10, 2023

Caspase 3 activation is a hallmark of cell death and there is a strong correlation between elevated protease activity and evolving pathology in neurodegenerative disease, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). These results suggest that caspase 3 is not inherently pathogenic, but may act as a compensatory proteostasis factor, to limit TDP-43 protein inclusions and protect organelle function in aggregation related degenerative disease.

Metallothionein Cup1 attenuates nitrosative stress in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

July 10, 2023

Our findings suggest that the yeast metallothionein Cup1 contributes to nitrosative stress tolerance, possibly as a constitutive rather than an inducible defense mechanism.

Atg1, a key regulator of autophagy, functions to promote MAPK activation and cell death upon calcium overload in fission yeast

May 10, 2023

Here, we provide evidence that the fission yeast Atg1 regulates cell death responses upon intracellular calcium load in addition to its role in promoting Pmk1 MAPK.

Investigating the role of G-quadruplexes at Saccharomyces cerevisiae telomeres

May 19, 2022

In this study, the authors examine the in vivo relevance of telomeric G-quadruplexes in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae by expressing a mutant telomerase RNA subunit (tlc1-tm) that introduces mutant telomeric repeats instead to the distal ends of telomeres. (...)

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