|
Advertisement | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 281, Issue 8, 4638-4645, February 24, 2006
A Downshift in Temperature Activates the High Osmolarity Glycerol (HOG) Pathway, Which Determines Freeze Tolerance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae*From the Department of Biotechnology, Instituto de Agroquímica y Tecnología de los Alimentos, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, P. O. Box 73, E-46100-Burjassot Valencia, Spain
Received for publication, November 29, 2005 , and in revised form, December 16, 2005.
The molecular mechanisms that enable yeast cells to detect and transmit cold signals and their physiological significance in the adaptive response to low temperatures are unknown. Here, we have demonstrated that the MAPK Hog1p is specifically activated in response to cold. Phosphorylation of Hog1p was dependent on Pbs2p, the MAPK kinase (MAPKK) of the high osmolarity glycerol (HOG) pathway, and Ssk1p, the response regulator of the two-component system Sln1p-Ypd1p. However, Sho1p was not required. Interestingly, phosphorylation of Hog1p was stimulated at 30 °C in cells exposed to the membrane rigidifier agent dimethyl sulfoxide. Moreover, Hog1p activation occurred specifically through the Sln1 branch. This suggests that Sln1p monitors changes in membrane fluidity caused by cold. Quite remarkably, activation of Hog1p at low temperatures affected the transcriptional response to cold shock. Indeed, the absence of Hog1p impaired the cold-instigated expression of genes for trehalose- and glycerol-synthesizing enzymes and small chaperones. Moreover, a downward transfer to 12 or 4 °C stimulated the overproduction of glycerol in a Hog1p-dependent manner. However, hog1 mutant cells showed no growth defects at 12 °C as compared with the wild type. On the contrary, deletion of HOG1 or GPD1 decreased tolerance to freezing of wild-type cells preincubated at a low temperature, whereas no differences could be detected in cells shifted directly from 30 to 20 °C. Thus, exposure to low temperatures triggered a Hog1p-dependent accumulation of glycerol, which is essential for freeze protection.
Variations in the surrounding temperature are probably the most common stress for all living organisms. In particular, a downshift in temperature leads to a reduction in membrane fluidity, impaired protein biosynthesis, and stabilization of secondary structures of DNA and RNA (1). Consequently, the adaptive response to cold shock in most organisms, studied so far, includes a change in the lipid composition of membranes and the remodeling of the transcriptional and translational machinery. These changes are mainly triggered by a drastic variation in the gene expression program, which leads to both survival and adaptation to low temperatures. Unlike other stress conditions, the biochemical mechanisms by which eukaryotic cells sense changes and respond to a downshift in temperature are poorly understood. Using the cyanobacteria Synechocystis as an experimental model, Murata and Los (2) suggested that a phase transition of the plasma membrane upon cold shock would trigger a conformational change of a putative cold sensor, this being the primary event in the transduction of the temperature signal. According to this hypothesis, a membrane-bound histidine kinase, Hik33, has been identified as a cold sensor in this organism, which is able to detect changes in the physical state of the membrane and regulate the expression of most cold-induced genes (3, 4). Other putative cold sensors, such as DesK in Bacillus subtilis (5) and transient receptor potential (TRP) ion channels in the mammalian nervous system (6), have also been characterized as integral membrane proteins. Recently, Hik33 has been shown to regulate the expression in Synechocystis of osmostress-inducible genes (7), suggesting that both osmotic and cold stress could be perceived in this organism by common mechanisms and sensing elements. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, an increase in environmental osmolarity is perceived by one of two osmosensors, Sln1p, the only known yeast histidine kinase sensor, and Sho1p, a transmembrane protein (reviewed in Refs. 810). Recently, a third osmosensor, Msb2p, displaying a redundant function with Sho1p, has also been characterized (11). Sln1p, together with Ypd1p and Ssk1p, forms a so-called two-component system (12), a typical signal transduction system found in other fungi, plants, and bacteria (13). Once the osmosensors are activated, they transmit the osmostress signal through different elements. This signal is integrated at the level of the MAPKK2 Pbs2p. Then, Pbs2p phosphorylates the Hog1p MAPK, which gives the name to the osmoregulatory MAPK cascade, the HOG pathway.
Although the HOG pathway has classically been considered as specific to osmotic stress, recent studies have revealed new functions for this MAPK route. Evidence suggests that the HOG pathway is essential for regulating adaptation to citric acid stress in yeast (14). Heat stress also activates the HOG pathway, through the membrane-bound osmosensor Sho1p (15). HOG basal activity is also involved in methylglyoxal resistance (16), distribution of proteins within the Golgi (17), and cell wall maintenance (18). Additional functions to that of osmostress signaling have been identified for HOG homologous pathways in other species. In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the Wak1p/Win1p-Wis1p-Sty1p SAPK pathway drives the transcriptional response to different stimuli, such as osmostress, heat shock, oxidative, and UV injury integrating the response to multiple stresses into a common cascade (for a review, see Ref. 19). The central element of this cascade is the Sty1p MAPK (20), the functional homologue to mammalian p54 JNK and p38, two of the three mammalian stress-activated MAPKs, SAPKs (8), and yeast Hog1p. Recently, Sty1p has been reported to be phosphorylated in response to cold shock, leading to the activation of cold-induced genes (21). Similarly, a downshift in temperature triggers the activation of p54 JNK (22). However, the physiological significance of these responses in cold adaptation and the mechanisms that trigger activation upon cold shock of osmoregulatory MAPK pathways remain unclear. Our objective in this study was to characterize the molecular mechanisms mediating cold response in S. cerevisiae. We hypothesized that the HOG MAPK pathway plays an important role in the phenotypic adaptation of yeast cells to this stress. Our results have shown that the HOG pathway mediates in transmitting the cold signal, regulates the expression of a subset of cold-induced genes, and determines viability on freezing. These findings have supported the idea that the HOG pathway plays a more general role in stress response in yeast, thus representing an important advance to our limited knowledge of the strategies and targets involved in cell protection against freeze injury.
Yeast Strains and Culture ConditionsS. cerevisiae W303-1A and BY4741 wild-type strains and isogenic mutants used in this study are listed in Table 1. Cells were grown in YNB (0.67% yeast nitrogen base without amino acids (DifcoTM, BD Diagnostics) plus 2% glucose) supplemented with the appropriate concentrations of essential nutrients (25) or YPD (1% yeast extract, 2% peptone, 2% glucose). Cells were grown routinely in Erlenmeyer flasks at 30 or 12 °C on an orbital shaker (250 rpm).
For cold shock experiments, cells grown at 30 °C to mid-log phase (A600 = 0.30.5) were collected by centrifugation, resuspended in 12 °C precooled culture medium, and incubated at the same temperature for different periods. Phenotype experiments on solid media were made by adjusting 30 °C exponential cultures to A600 = 0.3 and spotting serial dilutions onto culture plates. Cells were incubated at 30 or 12 °C for 2 and 6 days, respectively. Escherichia coli (DH10B strain) was grown in LB medium (1% peptone, 0.5% yeast extract, 0.5% NaCl). PlasmidsPlasmids for monitoring Hog1p nuclear accumulation were pVR65, containing HOG1 fusion with GFP in vector YCp111 (26), and pGP22, a derivative of vector pRS413, which contains the PTP2-coding sequence under the control of the pGAL1 (H. Saito). Yeast cells were transformed according to Ito et al. (27), and transformants were selected by auxotrophic complementation in YNB plates. E. coli was transformed by electroporation following the manufacturer's instructions (Eppendorf). RNA Purification and Northern Blot AnalysisCells from 30-ml culture samples were harvested by centrifugation (5,500 x g, 5 min, 4 °C), resuspended in 0.5 ml of LETS buffer (200 mM LiCl, 20 mM EDTA, 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0), 0.4% SDS), and transferred to a screw-cap Eppendorf tube containing 0.5 ml of phenol and 0.5 ml of glass beads (acid-washed, 0.4-mm diameter). The suspension was mixed vigorously twice, for 45 s each time, in a Mini Bead-Beater homogenizer (BioSpec, Bartlesville, OK), and total RNA was purified as described previously (25). Purified RNA was diluted in 3050 µl of sterile diethyl pyrocarbonate-treated water.
Equal amounts of RNA (30 µg) were separated in 1% (w/v) agarose gels containing formaldehyde (2.5% v/v), transferred to a nylon membrane, and hybridized with 32P-labeled probes. PCR-amplified DNA fragments containing sequences of TPS1 (2 to +1,492), NSR1 (48 to +536), OLE1 (+111 to +1,121), HSP12 (+1 to +329), GLO1 (+5 to +975), TIP1 (139 to +1,507), GRE1 (+1 to +506), GPD1 (+23 to +848), and ACT1 (+10 to +1083) were used to probe mRNA levels. DNA sequences were obtained from the Munich Information Center for Protein Sequences (MIPS) data base. Probes were radiolabeled with the random primer Ready-to-Go kit (Amersham Biosciences, Chalfont-St Giles, England) and[ Preparation of Yeast Extracts and Western BlotTo prepare whole-cell extracts for Hog1p detection, cells were harvested by filtration, transferred to a tube containing 300 µl of SDS loading buffer (50 mM Tris-HCl, pH 6.8, 100 mM dithiothreitol, 2% SDS, 0.1% bromphenol blue, 20% glycerol), and boiled at 95 °C for 10 min. Ten µl of each sample was separated by SDS-PAGE and blotted onto nitrocellulose membranes. Filters were blocked with 5% bovine serum albumin in TBST (10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, 150 mM NaCl, 0.5% Tween 20). Dual phosphorylated Hog1p was detected by an antibody specific to phosphorylated p38 MAPK (catalog number 9215, Cell signaling, Beverly, MA). A rabbit polyclonal antibody raised against a recombinant protein corresponding to the carboxyl terminus (221435) of S. cerevisiae Hog1p was used as a loading control (catalog number sc-9079, Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Santa Cruz, CA). The antisera were applied at 1:1000 (phosphorylated Hog1p) and 1:6000 (total Hog1p) dilutions according to the manufacturer's instructions. Blots were developed using the ECL Western blotting detection kit from Amersham Biosciences. Films were scanned in an HP Scanjet 5370c (Hewlett-Packard, Palo Alto, CA) and quantified with the Image Gauge software version 3.12 (Fuji). Intensity values of phospho-Hog1p were corrected according to the total Hog1p level. The highest relative value for each protein and sample analyzed was set at 100. Fluorescence MicroscopyCells were cultured as described, and DAPI (2.5 µg/ml final concentration) was added to the culture 1 h before microscopy. One-ml samples were taken at different times before and after Me2SO addition. Samples were spun for 10 s, the supernatant was decanted, and the cells were resuspended in the residual liquid. Aliquots of 4 µl were directly observed in a microscope Leica DM IRB, employing filters for GFP and DAPI fluorescence. False positives were detected by comparison with DAPI pictures, which revealed the position of the nuclei. At least 100 cells were visualized each time.
Glycerol AssayTo determine intracellular glycerol content under cold stress conditions, YPD-grown cells (A600 = 1.0) were collected by centrifugation, resuspended in 12 or 4 °C precooled YPD culture medium, and incubated at the indicated temperature. At different times, cells (10 units of A600) were collected by filtration and quickly transferred to a cold tube containing 1 ml of distilled water. Then, the yeast suspension was boiled for 10 min, cooled on ice, and centrifuged at 15,300 x g for 10 min (4 °C). Finally, the supernatant was collected and used for further analysis. Glycerol was determined colorimetrically with a commercial kit (Roche Applied Science) following the manufacturer's instructions. The values obtained are expressed as µg of glycerol per mg of yeast cells, dry weight. To do this, we used a cell mass value of 0.3 mg of cell dry weight/ml/unit of A600 (28). Viability ExperimentsCell cultures were grown in YPD liquid medium at 30 °C (A600 = 0.40.6), and samples were transferred directly to 20 °C or preincubated at 12 or 4 °C for 6 or 48 h, respectively, prior the shift to 20 °C. At different times, samples were thawed at 30 °C for 30 min and diluted, and cells were plated onto solid YPD. After 2 days, colonies were counted, and the percentage of viable cells was measured.
A Downshift in Temperature Triggers the Phosphorylation of Hog1p via the Sln1 Branch of the HOG PathwayWe examined the effect of a temperature downshift on the phosphorylation state of Hog1p in cells of the parental strain BY4741. Fig. 1 shows the results of a Western blot analysis of protein extracts analyzed with anti-phospho p38 antibody, which recognizes the dual-phosphorylated form (Thr-174, Tyr-176) of Hog1p, and polyclonal anti-Hog1p as a loading control. Hog1p was clearly activated in response to a thermal transfer from 30 to 12 °C. The kinetics of Hog1p phosphorylation was similar to that previously reported for yeast cells subjected to mild osmotic stress (29). Thus, the phosphorylation level reached a maximum within 510 min of exposure to low temperature and decreased markedly after 30 min. Similar results were found when cells were transferred to 15 or 10 °C (data not shown).
We further investigated whether the cold-instigated phosphorylation of Hog1p was dependent on upstream components of the HOG pathway. The mechanisms and elements implied in the Hog1p MAPK activation by osmostress have been widely characterized (810). Phosphorylation of Hog1p is directly dependent on Pbs2p MAPKK, which is, in turn, activated by any of the two feeding signals derived from Sho1p or the Sln1p-Ypd1p two-component system. As can be seen in Fig. 1, phosphorylation of Hog1p at 12 °C was completely absent in a pbs2
Exposure of Yeast Cells to Me2SO Leads to the Phosphorylation and Nuclear Import of the MAPK Hog1pThe absence of cold-instigated phosphorylation of Hog1p in the sho1
Hog1 protein is reported to move into the nucleus upon phosphorylation (24). Therefore, nuclear localization of the MAPK by treating the cells with Me2SO would be further evidence of its activation. To test this, we used a hog1 mutant strain (W303-1A background) transformed with plasmid pVR65, carrying a HOG1-GFP fusion (26), and Me2SO-exposed cells were visualized by fluorescent microscopy. As shown, the rigidifying agent induced the nuclear accumulation of Hog1p-GFP just 10 min after the treatment (Fig. 2B). We also observed that nuclear localization of Hog1p did not decrease at all in 30 min. This fact was in consonance with the phosphorylation kinetics displayed in this strain. Indeed, Hog1p phosphorylation by Me2SO in cells of the S. cerevisiae W303-1A strain lasted longer (Fig. 2B) as compared with that seen in the BY4741 strain (Fig. 2A). Thus, if yeast cells are exposed to Me2SO at 30 °C, the cold-induced phosphorylation of Hog1p is mimicked, and the nuclear localization of the MAPK is determined.
A Functional HOG Pathway Is Dispensable for Growth at Low TemperatureS. pombe responds to cold by inducing the SAPK pathway. However, such activation is not necessary for growth at low temperatures (21). Therefore, we were interested in testing the effects of HOG pathway activation in the cold response of S. cerevisiae. Exponentially growing cells of the parental BY4741 and HOG pathway mutant strains were plated on YPD medium and cultivated at 30 or 12 °C (Fig. 3). As can be seen, deletion of HOG1, PBS2, SHO1, or SSK1 had no effects on the growth of the parental strain at 12 °C. Similar results were observed at 15 or 10 °C or when growth at a low temperature was tested in either YPD or YNB liquid medium (data not shown).
The HOG Pathway Is Involved in the Genetic Response to Cold StressUnder osmotic stress, activation of Hog1p alters the expression of hundred of genes (33). Therefore, we looked into how the HOG pathway is involved in the transcriptional response of S. cerevisiae to cold shock. Three genes, OLE1, TIP1, and NSR1, previously reported as cold-induced and traditionally used as cold shock response markers (3436) were probed by Northern blot of mRNA samples from wild-type and hog1
Next we examined the cold-inducible expression of a different set of genes. In particular, we analyzed the transcriptional profile of GLO1, GPD1, TPS1, HSP12, and GRE1. GLO1 encodes glyoxalase I (38). The product of GPD1 catalyzes the first step in the glycerol pathway (39). TPS1 encodes the trehalose-6-phosphate synthase (40). HSP12 encodes a small heat shock protein (41), and GRE1 encodes for a protein of unknown function. It has recently been reported that all of them are induced by 68 h of incubation at 10 °C (42), a regulation pattern that was missed in earlier studies of the cold shock response (35, 36, 43). Findings also show that TPS1 expression is activated below 10 °C and even at 0 °C (45). As is shown in Fig. 4B, the expression level of all the marker genes tested increased markedly in cold-shocked cells of the wild-type strain. Nevertheless, they showed different kinetics of mRNA variation. The transcript accumulation of GLO1, HSP12, and TPS1 only appeared to increase significantly at the late stage, 48 h, of the incubation period at 12 °C. By contrast, the induction curve of GRE1, and especially of GPD1, showed two phases (Fig. 4B). mRNA levels increased rapidly within the first 60-min shift and then dropped and increased again by 2 h. By comparison, the hog1
Yeast Cells Accumulate Glycerol in Response to a Downward Shift in TemperatureThe observation that a number of genes are coordinately induced at low temperature via the HOG pathway led us to investigate the functionality of this response. In particular, we tested whether up-regulation of GPD1 at 12 °C might determine enhanced levels of glycerol accumulation at low temperature. As shown in Fig. 5, when logarithmic growing cells of the BY4741 wild-type strain were shifted to 12 °C, intracellular glycerol content started to increase, and by 3 h, reached levels three times higher than those at 30 °C. Later, glycerol accumulated at lower relative rates, reaching near maximum values after 9 h (Fig. 5). This pronounced increase did not occur by deletion of HOG1. Thus, glycerol content hardly varied in hog1 mutant cells after 3 h at 12 °C, and by 15 h, had increased only about 2-fold over the 30 °C levels (Fig. 5).
Then, we went on to test whether glycerol content could also increase at lower temperatures at which yeast growth stops. Recent studies by Kandror et al. (44) have shown that yeast cells incubated at near freezing temperatures can undergo a strong increase in their trehalose content. Therefore, we observed glycerol content in wild-type and hog1
Hog1p Plays a Functional Role in Freeze ToleranceOveraccumulation of trehalose at near freezing temperatures is critical for the viability of yeast cells exposed to freezing (44). Similarly, the Hog1p-mediated increase in glycerol content after a downward shift in temperature may provide freeze tolerance. To test this possibility, cultures of wild-type and hog1
To further investigate this view, we analyzed the behavior of a gpd1 mutant, which lacks glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (39). As expected, gpd1 mutant cells shifted directly from 30 to 20 °C displayed a similar degree of sensitivity to that observed for wild-type and hog1 cells (Fig. 6). Cell survival was also followed up after incubation for 2 days at 4 °C and frozen storage (Fig. 6). Again, it was evident that incubation at 4 °C improved freeze tolerance. However, the increase in freeze tolerance was less marked than that in wild-type cells, being closer to that observed for the hog1 mutant strain, especially after 4 days at 20 °C.
Traditionally, the HOG pathway, a conserved MAPK cascade in S. cerevisiae, has been considered a specific signaling route responding to changes in external solute concentrations (810). Far from this classical concept, our results have demonstrated that the HOG pathway functions as a transducer of cold stimuli. By using genetic and biochemical approaches, we showed that Hog1p is phosphorylated by Pbs2p, the MAPKK of the HOG pathway, after a downward shift in temperature. Phosphorylation of Hog1p was also found to be induced by the membrane rigidifier agent Me2SO. Several lines of research in plants and cyanobacteria have shown that this chemical indeed mimics the changes in membrane fluidity caused by a sharp decrease in temperature (2, 4547) and triggers the activation of several cold-induced MAPKs (31). Furthermore, our results revealed that both cold shock and Me2SO activate Hog1p specifically via the Sln1 branch of the MAPK cascade. Thus, osmotic stress and cold appeared to be perceived by yeast cells as different stimuli and generated stress signals that are transmitted by specific elements of the HOG pathway.
Quite remarkably, this activation led to the transcriptional induction of a specific group of cold-responsive genes and the intracellular accumulation of glycerol, a key process leading to freeze resistance. This is consistent with the function of Hog1p orthologs, like Sty1p in the fission yeast S. pombe or p38 in mammals, which relay different environmental signals, including cold, to the transcriptional machinery (8, 19). These results also support recent reports showing that the MAPK Hog1p plays a role in response to different stimuli (1416). Thus, the HOG pathway has a functional role in the propagation of a variety of signals to changing environmental conditions and determines tolerance to different stresses. The finding that the two-component osmosensor, Sln1p-Ypd1p, participates in cold perception was not wholly surprising. Sln1p, a typical histidine kinase, is the only two-component sensor molecule known in S. cerevisiae, and there is considerable evidence that low temperature signals are regulated by two-component systems in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells (48, 49). Histidine kinases that act as cold sensors, such as Hik33 in Synechocystis (3) and DesK in B. subtilis (5), have also been identified. Moreover, Hik33 appears to be responsible for detecting both cold and osmotic stress (7). Like this cyanobacterial protein, Sln1p appeared to function under either of these stressful conditions, and it is likely, therefore, that the basic mechanism of its activation by low temperature and osmotic pressure could be similar or even identical. High osmotic stress causes a rapid efflux of water with associated cell volume shrinkage and reduction of turgor pressure. Recently, it has been shown that the HOG pathway is activated by reductions in turgor, through yeast-cell exposure to nystatin, without any application of osmotic stress (50). Nystatin is a well known yeast membrane-permeabilizing agent that induces cell volume shrinkage (51). Quite remarkably, nystatin gave rise to Hog1p phosphorylation specifically through the Sln1 branch of the MAPK cascade (50). Thus, this observation suggests that there is indeed a causal link between the stimulation of Hog1p through the Sln1p branch upon cold shock and osmotic stress. The fluidity state of the cell membrane might be a key factor to integrate the sensing mechanism of cold and hyperosmolarity. Several studies in Synechocystis (52, 53) and bacteria (5) indicate that cold sensors perceive a decrease in membrane fluidity as the primary signal of cold stress. There is also evidence that different osmosensors, such as EnvZ in E. coli or OpuA, a transmembrane transporter of Lactococcus lactis with osmosensor and osmoregulator properties (54), are stimulated by changes in the fluidity of membrane lipids (55, 56). Moreover, studies in B. subtilis (57) and S. cerevisiae (58) indicate that osmotic stress reduces cell-membrane fluidity. Altogether, these observations suggest a model in which Sln1p monitors the changes in membrane fluidity caused by different stressors. The fact that Sln1p responds to Me2SO supports this view. However, more work is required to confirm this idea and to understand the exact molecular mechanism of signal perception. As shown in our study, signaling through the HOG pathway was only required for the proper expression of a specific set of cold-induced genes. This suggests that additional cold signal transduction pathways differing in targets and likely function are operative in S. cerevisiae. Hog1p-regulated genes might be important for growth at low temperature. However, experiments with HOG-pathway mutants failed to show a cold-sensitive phenotype, although lack of Hog1p had dramatic effects on the transcriptional induction of these genes. Another possibility is that these genes could be necessary to protect yeast cells against cold shock damage. TPS1, HSP12, GRE1, GLO1, and GPD1 encode proteins with functions in or related to stress protection. Notably, all these genes are also induced by osmotic stress in a Hog1p-dependent manner (33). However, a sharp decrease in temperature arrests or delays growth but has no major effects on cell viability. Although we cannot discard a regulatory role of the HOG pathway in the cold adaptation mechanism, this function remains unclear. Recently, Kandror et al. (44) have shown that yeast cells display an adaptive response at low temperature, the termed `near freezing response,` which increases tolerance to freezing. This response is dependent on the transcriptional regulators MSN2/MSN4, the two factors mediating the general stress response pathway in S. cerevisiae (59), and involves the production of high amounts of trehalose and synthesis of certain heat shock proteins (44). On the other hand, previous studies have shown that there is a functional link between Hog1p and Msn2p/Msn4p in the yeast osmotic response of GPD1 (60, 61). Glycerol is the only compatible osmolyte in S. cerevisiae, and its production plays a fundamental role in osmoadaptation. Moreover, much of the damage to cells during freezing/thawing, in particular at low freezing rates, is a result of osmotic shrinkage (62). Such evidence and the findings reported here would strongly suggest that Hog1p could be an important factor in the adaptive response to freezing.
In support of this, we observed a high accumulation of glycerol in cells that were transferred to 12 or 4 °C. Notably, this accumulation was higher at the lowest temperature. These results could be explained by lower levels of activity in the glycerol export channel Fps1p at 4 °C as compared with 12 °C. The glycerol facilitator Fps1p in S. cerevisiae plays a central role in the accumulation of glycerol under osmotic stress (63, 64). Moreover, the absence of Fps1p confers increased freeze tolerance to yeast cells (65). As expected, glycerol accumulation upon cold shock at 12 or 4 °C was wholly dependent on Hog1p and enhanced cell viability upon freezing. Indeed, the hog1 Although cold induction of a number of genes was found to be dependent on Hog1p, the most important factor contributing to enhanced freeze tolerance was the increase in the intracellular glycerol content. This result and previous findings (44) suggest than glycerol acts together with trehalose and perhaps heat shock proteins in the adaptation mechanism of S. cerevisiae, and probably other organisms, to temperatures below 0 °C. Freezing is a complex and multifaceted stress in which different stressors and stress responses appear to play important roles (66). It is not surprising, therefore, that tolerance to freezing is likely to involve different mechanisms and protective molecules working in concert.
* This work was supported by the CICYT projects (AGL2001-1203; AGL2004-00462) from the Ministry of Education and Science of Spain. The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact. 1 To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel.: 34-963900022; Fax: 34-963636301; E-mail: prieto{at}iata.csic.es.
2 The abbreviations used are: MAPK, mitogen-activated protein kinase; MAPKK, MAPK kinase; SAPK, stress-activated protein kinase; JNK, c-Jun amino-terminal kinase; HOG, high osmolarity glycerol; YNB, yeast nitrogen base; YPD, yeast extract/peptone/dextrose; GFP, green fluorescent protein; DAPI, 4',6-diamidin 2-phenyldiol.
We thank A. Blasco for technical assistance and M. Tamás and S. Hohmann for providing plasmids and yeast strains.
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Advertisement | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||