The Hrk1 kinase is a determinant of acetic acid tolerance in yeast by modulating H+ and K+ homeostasis
Authors:Miguel Antunes1,2,3, Deepika Kale4, Hana Sychrová4 and Isabel Sá-Correia1,2,3
doi: 10.15698/mic2023.12.809
Volume 10, pp. 261 to 276, published 14/11/2023.
1 iBB—Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal.
2 Department of Bioengineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal.
3 Associate Laboratory i4HB—Institute for Health and Bioeconomy at Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal.
4 Laboratory of Membrane Transport, Institute of Physiology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Videnska 1083, 142 00 Prague 4, Czech Republic.
Keywords:
acetic acid tolerance, Pma1 activity, plasma membrane H+-ATPase, Nha1, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, yeast kinases, NPR/Hal family.
Corresponding Author(s):
Conflict of interest statement:
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.
Please cite this article as:
Miguel Antunes, Deepika Kale, Hana Sychrová and Isabel Sá-Correia (2023). The Hrk1 kinase is a determinant of acetic acid tolerance in yeast by modulating H+ and K+ homeostasis. Microbial Cell 10(12): 261-276. doi: 10.15698/mic2023.12.809
© 2023 Antunes et al. This is an open-access article released under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which allows the unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are acknowledged.
Abstract:
Acetic acid-induced stress is a common challenge in natural environments and industrial bioprocesses, significantly affecting the growth and metabolic performance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The adaptive response and tolerance to this stress involves the activation of a complex network of molecular pathways. This study aims to delve deeper into these mechanisms in S. cerevisiae, particularly focusing on the role of the Hrk1 kinase. Hrk1 is a key determinant of acetic acid tolerance, belonging to the NPR/Hal family, whose members are implicated in the modulation of the activity of plasma membrane transporters that orchestrate nutrient uptake and ion homeostasis. The influence of Hrk1 on S. cerevisiae adaptation to acetic acid-induced stress was explored by employing a physiological approach based on previous phosphoproteomics analyses. The results from this study reflect the multifunctional roles of Hrk1 in maintaining proton and potassium homeostasis during different phases of acetic acid-stressed cultivation. Hrk1 is shown to play a role in the activation of plasma membrane H+-ATPase, maintaining pH homeostasis, and in the modulation of plasma membrane potential under acetic acid stressed cultivation. Potassium (K+) supplementation of the growth medium, particularly when provided at limiting concentrations, led to a notable improvement in acetic acid stress tolerance of the hrk1∆ strain. Moreover, abrogation of this kinase expression is shown to confer a physiological advantage to growth under K+ limitation also in the absence of acetic acid stress. The involvement of the alkali metal cation/H+ exchanger Nha1, another proposed molecular target of Hrk1, in improving yeast growth under K+ limitation or acetic acid stress, is proposed.