Research Reports – Microbial Cell

Research, Research Reports

Metallothionein Cup1 attenuates nitrosative stress in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Yuki Yoshikawa^1,2,#, Ryo Nasuno^1,3,#, Naoki Takaya⁴ and Hiroshi Takagi^1,*

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

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

Dominique C. S. Evans^1,2,#, Amanda B. Khamas^1,#, Lisbeth Marcussen¹, Kristian S. Rasmussen³, Janne K. Klitgaard³, Birgitte H. Kallipolitis³, Janni Nielsen¹, Daniel E. Otzen¹, Mark C. Leake^2,4 and Rikke L. Meyer^1,5

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.

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

Teruaki Takasaki¹, Ryosuke Utsumi¹, Erika Shimada¹, Asuka Bamba¹, Kanako Hagihara², Ryosuke Satoh¹, and Reiko Sugiura¹

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.

TL-532, a novel specific Toll-like receptor 3 agonist rationally designed for targeting cancers: discovery process and biological characterization

Sylvain Thierry¹, Sarah Maadadi¹, Aurore Berton¹, Laura Dimier¹, Clémence Perret¹, Nelly Vey¹, Saïd Ourfali², Mathilde Saccas¹, Solène Caron¹, Mathilde Boucard-Jourdin¹, Marc Colombel³, Bettina Werle¹ and Marc Bonnin¹

In the present study, we identified a new family of TLR3 agonists that activates myeloid cells, triggers the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines in both myeloid and cancer cells, and induces apoptosis specifically in cancer cells.

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

Nuno A. Pedro^1,2, Gabriela Fontebasso^1,2, Sandra N. Pinto^1,2, Marta Alves³ and Nuno P. Mira^1,2

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

Jennifer C. Hallam^1,#, Sofia Sandalli^1,#, Iris Floria¹, Natasha C. A. Turner¹, Min Tang-Fichaux², Eric Oswald^2,3, Nicky O’Boyle^1,4 and Andrew J. Roe¹

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

Pavel Simakin^1,#, Christian Koch^1,# and Johannes M. Herrmann¹

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

Alexandr Makarov¹, Jakub Began^2,†, Ileana Corvo Mautone^1,3, Erika Pinto¹, Liam Ferguson¹, Martin Zoltner^1,4, Sebastian Zoll² and Mark C. Field^1,5

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

Lavinia Curini^1,#, Brunilda Alushi^2,#, Mary Roxana Christopher³, Simone Baldi¹, Leandro Di Gloria⁴, Pierluigi Stefano⁵, Anna Laganà⁵, Luisa Iannone⁵, Herko Grubitzsch⁶, Ulf Landmesser⁷, Matteo Ramazzotti⁴, Elena Niccolai^1,§, Alexander Lauten^2,§ and Amedeo Amedei^1,8,§

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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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. (...)