The invertase mutant defective in the glucose signaling pathway of Schizosaccharomyces pombe (ird11) is resistant to glucose repression. This mutant is able to consume sucrose alongside glucose and grows in glucose-containing media with a generation time close to that of the wild type. Intracellular oxidation, protein carbonyl, and reduced glutathione levels and catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase activity were investigated in ird11, to determine the relationship between oxidative stress response and glucose signaling. The expression profiles of some genes involved in regulation of glucose repression (fbp1, fructose-1,6-bis-phosphatase; hxk2, hexokinase) and stress response (atf1 and pap1 transcription factors; ctt1, catalase; sod1, Cu,Zn superoxide dismutase) were analyzed using the quantitative real-time PCR technique. Oxidative stress response in ird11 seems to be affected by glucose signaling in a manner different from that caused by glucose deprivation.

ABSTRACT. The resistant to glucose repression mutants of Schizosaccharomyces pombe (ird5, ird13, and ird14) have a high tolerance to oxidative stress induced by H 2 O 2 . In all ird mutants, the increased expression level of the fbp1 gene can be interpreted as a lack of glucose repression in these mutants. To investigate the mechanisms of the oxidative stress response in ird mutants, we analyzed the transcription of stress response-related genes, sod1, ctt1, atf1, pap1, and sty1, under stressed and non-stressed conditions. We then analyzed the phosphorylation state of the Sty1-MAP kinase in ird mutants. Our findings support the concept of an adaptive response to oxidative stress in these mutants. In addition, these results imply that either glucose signaling mechanisms leading to glucose repression and glucose utilization as an energy source are regulated apart from each other or, like Saccharomyces cerevisiae, S. pombe might have additional glucose detection systems.

Thiamine diphosphate (ThDP) is an essential cofactor for important enzymes in carbohydrate, amino acid and lipid metabolisms. It is also known that thiamine plays an important role in stress response of some organisms. In this study, we focused on the effect of thiamine on stress responses triggered by various stress agents. For this purpose, firstly, viability of Schizosaccharomyces pombe cell cultures was examined under oxidative, osmotic and heat stresses. The highest tolerance observed in cell viability due to the presence of extracellular thiamine (1.5 µM) was found only against oxidative stress. Then, enzyme activity of catalase and superoxide dismutase (SOD) involved in antioxidant defense mechanism and the expression analysis of genes encoding enzymes related to glucose metabolism and stress response pathways were investigated under oxidative stress. In this condition, it was not observed any difference in SOD and catalase activities, and their gene expressions due to the presence of thiamine, whereas the upregulation of pyruvate dehydrogenase (pdb1), transketolase (SPBC2G5.05), fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (fbp1) and the downregulation of pyruvate decarboxylase (pdc201) were observed. In conclusion, these findings suggest that extracellular thiamine leading to oxidative stress resistance have an impact on the regulation of glucose metabolism by shifting the energy generation from fermentation to respiration.

ABSTRACT.We looked for changes in gene expression and novel genes that could be involved in the interaction between glucose repression and oxidative stress response in the fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, using a constitutive invertase mutant, ird11, which is resistant to glucose. BLAST analysis was made of the S. pombe genome database of cDNAs whose expression ratios differentially decreased or increased upon exposure to mild oxidative stress in this mutant compared to the wild type. Genes with this type of activity were identified as rpl302, encoding 60S ribosomal protein L3, and mpg1, encoding mannose-1-phosphate guanyltransferase; their expression patterns were measured using quantitative real-time PCR. We found that the expression levels of rpl302 and mpg1 genes in ird11 under unstressed conditions were increased compared to those of the wild type. Under stress conditions, the expression levels of the rpl302 gene were decreased in both strains, while mpg1 expression levels remained unchanged. These results suggest that these genes play a role in the response to oxidative stress in this mutant strain.

Thiamine is a major vitamin that acts as a cofactor in energy metabolism in all organisms, as well as in lipid and amino acid metabolisms, and is associated with many diseases. It is known that glucose starvation decreases the intracellular thiamine pool while increasing oxidative stress tolerance. Earlier, in whole genome analysis, we detected major differences in the expression of genes related to thiamine pathway against oxidative stress in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. We investigated the effects of oxidative stress and glucose repression to thiamine pathway in S. pombe by comparing some genes encoding key enzymes of each related pathway at the transcription level. In the present study, we found that the expression of genes related to thiamine biosynthesis and transport (thi2, thi3, and pho1) increased in wild type and ird11 cells grown in thiamine-rich media under oxidative stress induced by H2O2. Based on our findings, we suggested that there might be an important effect of oxidative stress on thiamine biosynthesis and transport.