Research – Page 9 – Microbial Cell

Research Articles

Attenuation of polyglutamine-induced toxicity by enhancement of mitochondrial OXPHOS in yeast and fly models of aging

Andrea L. Ruetenik^1,2,3, Alejandro Ocampo^1,2,3,¶, Kai Ruan^4,5,#, Yi Zhu^4,5, Chong Li^4,6, R. Grace Zhai^1,4,5,6 and Antoni Barrientos^1,2,3,5

Defects in mitochondrial biogenesis and function are common in many neurodegenerative disorders, including Huntington’s disease (HD). We could shown that enhancement of mitochondrial biogenesis protects against neurodegeneration in HD yeast and fly models. Our results suggest that therapeutic interventions aiming at the enhancement of mitochondrial respiration and OXPHOS could reduce polyQ toxicity and delay disease onset.

Cox1 mutation abrogates need for Cox23 in cytochrome c oxidase biogenesis

Richard Dela Cruz^1,2, Mi-Young Jeong¹ and Dennis R. Winge¹

Cox23 is a known conserved assembly factor for cytochrome c oxidase, although its role in cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) biogenesis remains unresolved. To gain additional insights into its role, we isolated spontaneous suppressors of the respiratory growth defect in cox23∆ yeast cells. In this report, we describe the isolation of a robust suppressor of the respiratory defect in cox23∆ cells that mapped to the mitochondrial-encoded Cox1 subunit.

Construction and evaluation of yeast expression networks by database-guided predictions

Katharina Papsdorf^1,#, Siyuan Sima^1,#, Gerhard Richter², Klaus Richter¹

DNA-Microarrays are powerful tools to obtain expression data on the genome-wide scale. We set out to define a way to cluster microarray data according to their expressional relationship and to obtain information on the significance of this clustering approach.

Optogenetic monitoring identifies phosphatidylthreonine-regulated calcium homeostasis in Toxoplasma gondii

Arunakar Kuchipudi¹, Ruben D. Arroyo-Olarte¹, Friederike Hoffmann¹, Volker Brinkmann², Nishith Gupta^{1, 2}

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite, which inflicts acute as well as chronic infections in a wide range of warm-blooded vertebrates. Using an optogenetic sensor to monitor subcellular calcium in this model intracellular pathogen we found a novel regulatory function of phosphatidylthreonine in calcium signaling.

Formaldehyde fixation is detrimental to actin cables in glucose-depleted S. cerevisiae cells

Pavla Vasicova^1,#, Mark Rinnerthaler², Danusa Haskova¹, Lenka Novakova¹, Ivana Malcova¹, Michael Breitenbach², Jiri Hasek¹

Actin filaments form cortical patches and emanating cables in fermenting cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We assume that stability of actin cables reflects the metabolic status of the cell. Based on comparison of live and formaldehyde-fixed cells, our data suggest that formaldehyde affects respiration before fixation and this uneven signaling results in destabilization of actin cables in glucose-deprived cells.

Insights into dynamin-associated disorders through analysis of equivalent mutations in the yeast dynamin Vps1

Laila Moustaq, Iwona I. Smaczynska-de Rooij, Sarah E. Palmer, Christopher J. Marklew, Kathryn R. Ayscough

The dynamins represent a superfamily of proteins that have been shown to function in a wide range of membrane fusion and fission events. An increasing number of mutations in the human classical dynamins, Dyn-1 and Dyn-2 has been reported, with diseases caused by these changes ranging from Charcot-Marie-Tooth disorder to epileptic encephalopathies. This study aimed to use the dynamin-like protein Vps1 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model to gain insights into the mechanistic defects caused by specific dynamin mutations considered to underlie a number of diseases.

Genomic saturation mutagenesis and polygenic analysis identify novel yeast genes affecting ethyl acetate production, a non-selectable polygenic trait

Tom Den Abt^1,2, Ben Souffriau^1,2, Maria R. Foulquié-Moreno^1,2, Jorge Duitama³, and Johan M. Thevelein^1,2

Isolation of mutants in populations of microorganisms has been a valuable tool in experimental genetics for decades. The main disadvantage, however, is the inability of isolating mutants in non-selectable polygenic traits. Our study shows that genomic saturation mutagenesis combined with complex trait polygenic analysis could be used successfully to identify causative alleles underlying many non-selectable, polygenic traits in small collections of haploid strains with multiple induced mutations.

Differentiated cytoplasmic granule formation in quiescent and non-quiescent cells upon chronological aging

Hsin-Yi Lee^1,3,†, Kuo-Yu Cheng^2,3,†, Jung-Chi Chao³ and Jun-Yi Leu³

Stationary phase cultures represent a complicated cell population comprising at least two different cell types, quiescent (Q) and non-quiescent (NQ) cells. The authors show that the cell fate of NQ cells is largely irreversible even if they are allowed to reenter mitosis. Their results reveal that the formation of different granule structures may represent the early stage of cell type differentiation in yeast stationary phase cultures.

Mitochondrial proteomics of the acetic acid – induced programmed cell death response in a highly tolerant Zygosaccharomyces bailii – derived hybrid strain

Joana F Guerreiro¹, Belém Sampaio-Marques^2,3, Renata Soares⁴, Ana Varela Coelho⁴, Cecília Leão^2,3, Paula Ludovico^2,3, Isabel Sá-Correia¹

Very high concentrations of acetic acid at low pH induce programmed cell death (PCD) in both the experimental model Saccharomyces cerevisiae and in Zygosaccharomyces bailii, the latter being considered the most problematic acidic food spoilage yeast due to its remarkable intrinsic resistance to this food preservative. This study offers insights into the mechanisms involved in acetic acid - induced PCD in the Z. bailii-derived hybrid strain ISA1307 by analyzing the yeast mitochondrial protein expression profile of cells challenged by acetic acid.

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Chromosome-condensed G1 phase yeast cells are tolerant to desiccation stress

November 26, 2021

The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is capable of surviving extreme water loss for a long time. However, less is known about the mechanism of its desiccation tolerance. In this study, we revealed that in an exponential culture, all desiccation tolerant yeast cells were in G1 phase and had condensed chromosomes. (...)

Detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its first variants in fourplex real-time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR assays

November 25, 2021

The early diagnosis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections is required to identify and isolate contagious patients to prevent further transmission of SARS-CoV-2. In this study, we present a multitarget real-time TaqMan reverse transcription PCR (rRT-PCR) assay for the quantitative detection of SARS-CoV-2 and some of its circulating variants harboring mutations that give the virus a selective advantage. Seven different primer-probe sets that included probes containing locked nucleic acid (LNA) nucleotides were designed to amplify specific wild-type and mutant sequences in Orf1ab, Envelope (E), Spike (S), and Nucleocapsid (N) genes (...)

Forced association of SARS-CoV-2 proteins with the yeast proteome perturb vesicle trafficking

October 27, 2021

This work demonstrates that the yeast Synthetic Physical Interactions method is a rapid way to identify potential functions of ectopic viral proteins.

Airborne bacteria in show caves from Southern Spain

July 26, 2021

This study analyzes the factors conditioning the diversity of airborne bacteria recorded in three Andalusian show caves, subjected to different managements.

Landscapes and bacterial signatures of mucosa-associated intestinal microbiota in Chilean and Spanish patients with inflammatory bowel disease

June 18, 2021

This study investigates the landscapes and alterations of mucosa-associated intestinal microbiota in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases, which cause chronic inflammation of the gut, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.

Genome, transcriptome and secretome analyses of the antagonistic, yeast-like fungus Aureobasidium pullulans to identify potential biocontrol genes

June 8, 2021

This study highlights the value of a sequential approach starting with genome mining and consecutive transcriptome and secretome analyses in order to identify a limited number of potential target genes for detailed, functional analyses in Aureobasidium pullulans.

Barcode sequencing and a high-throughput assay for chronological lifespan uncover ageing-associated genes in fission yeast

May 10, 2021

This work presents two approaches to study chronological lifespan (CLS) for medium- to high-throughput applications, a method for Bar-seq to identify mutants showing altered CLS and a novel medium-throughput colony-forming units assay that can be largely automated by robotics.