The pathogenic yeast Candida parapsilosis degrades various hydroxy derivatives of benzenes and benzoates by the gentisate and 3-oxoadipate pathways. We identified the genes MNX1, MNX2, MNX3, GDX1, HDX1 and FPH1 that code for enzymes involved in these pathways in the complete genome sequence of C. parapsilosis. Next, we demonstrated that MNX1, MNX2, MNX3 and GDX1 are inducible and transcriptionally controlled by hydroxyaromatic substrates present in cultivation media. Our results indicate that MNX1 and MNX2 code for flavoprotein monooxygenases catalysing the first steps in the 3-oxoadipate and gentisate pathways, respectively (i.e. 4-hydroxybenzoate 1-hydroxylase and 3-hydroxybenzoate 6-hydroxylase). Moreover, we found that the two pathways differ by their intracellular localization. The enzymes of the 3-oxoadipate pathway, Mnx1p and Mnx3p, localize predominantly in the cytosol. In contrast, intracellular localization of the components of the gentisate pathway, Mnx2p and Gdx1p, depends on the substrate in the cultivation medium. In cells growing on glucose these proteins localize in the cytosol, whereas in media containing hydroxyaromatic compounds they associate with mitochondria. Finally, we showed that the overexpression of MNX1 or MNX2 increases the tolerance of C. parapsilosis cells to the antifungal drug terbinafine.
Programmed translational bypassing is a process whereby ribosomes "ignore" a substantial interval of mRNA sequence. Although discovered 25 y ago, the only experimentally confirmed example of this puzzling phenomenon is expression of the bacteriophage T4 gene 60. Bypassing requires translational blockage at a "takeoff codon" immediately upstream of a stop codon followed by a hairpin, which causes peptidyl-tRNA dissociation and reassociation with a matching "landing triplet" 50 nt downstream, where translation resumes. Here, we report 81 translational bypassing elements (byps) in mitochondria of the yeast Magnusiomyces capitatus and demonstrate in three cases, by transcript analysis and proteomics, that byps are retained in mitochondrial mRNAs but not translated. Although mitochondrial byps resemble the bypass sequence in the T4 gene 60, they utilize unused codons instead of stops for translational blockage and have relaxed matching rules for takeoff/landing sites. We detected byp-like sequences also in mtDNAs of several Saccharomycetales, indicating that byps are mobile genetic elements. These byp-like sequences lack bypassing activity and are tolerated when inserted in-frame in variable protein regions. We hypothesize that byp-like elements have the potential to contribute to evolutionary diversification of proteins by adding new domains that allow exploration of new structures and functions.ribosome hopping | mitochondrial genome | proteome analysis | heterologous expression T he traditional view of translation is that mRNA is read sequentially, one codon at a time. However, low-level nonprogrammed translational bypassing (i.e., the occasional skipping of a few nucleotides) can be triggered by various factors, including tRNA paucity, unusual codons, and homo-polymer sequence tracts (1). In addition, programmed translational bypassing of 50 nt has been demonstrated for the gene 60 transcript of bacteriophage T4 (2-4). In vitro mutagenesis experiments showed that efficient translational "jumping" or "hopping" in T4 requires matching takeoff and landing codons (most effective is the wild-type GGA), a stop codon, and both a hairpin RNA secondary structure directly downstream of the takeoff site, and a Shine-Dalgarno (SD) sequence a few nucleotides upstream of the landing codon. Finally, a particular amino acid sequence in the nascent peptide encoded upstream of the takeoff site confers highest jumping efficiency. Additional cases of programmed bypassing have been postulated but currently lack supporting evidence (e.g., ref. 5), making the T4 gene 60 expression the only confirmed instance.Here, we report the massive occurrence of translational bypassing elements in mitochondria of the opportunistic human pathogen Magnusiomyces (also known as Blastoschizomyces or Geotrichum) capitatus (6), which belongs to a deeply branching lineage of Saccharomycetales (Fig. 1A). Our findings suggest that translational bypassing might be more widespread than previously thought. ResultsProtein-Coding Genes Interrupted by Dozens of In...
The pathogenic yeast Candida parapsilosis metabolizes hydroxyderivatives of benzene and benzoic acid to compounds channeled into central metabolism, including the mitochondrially localized tricarboxylic acid cycle, via the 3-oxoadipate and gentisate pathways. The orchestration of both catabolic pathways with mitochondrial metabolism as well as their evolutionary origin is not fully understood. Our results show that the enzymes involved in these two pathways operate in the cytoplasm with the exception of the mitochondrially targeted 3-oxoadipate CoA-transferase (Osc1p) and 3-oxoadipyl-CoA thiolase (Oct1p) catalyzing the last two reactions of the 3-oxoadipate pathway. The cellular localization of the enzymes indicates that degradation of hydroxyaromatic compounds requires a shuttling of intermediates, cofactors, and products of the corresponding biochemical reactions between cytosol and mitochondria. Indeed, we found that yeast cells assimilating hydroxybenzoates increase the expression of genes SFC1, LEU5, YHM2, and MPC1 coding for succinate/fumarate carrier, coenzyme A carrier, oxoglutarate/citrate carrier, and the subunit of pyruvate carrier, respectively. A phylogenetic analysis uncovered distinct evolutionary trajectories for sparsely distributed gene clusters coding for enzymes of both pathways. Whereas the 3-oxoadipate pathway appears to have evolved by vertical descent combined with multiple losses, the gentisate pathway shows a striking pattern suggestive of horizontal gene transfer to the evolutionarily distant Mucorales.
Several yeast species catabolize hydroxyderivatives of benzoic acid. However, the nature of carriers responsible for transport of these compounds across the plasma membrane is currently unknown. In this study, we analyzed a family of genes coding for permeases belonging to the major facilitator superfamily (MFS) in the pathogenic yeast Candida parapsilosis. Our results revealed that these transporters are functionally equivalent to bacterial aromatic acid: H+ symporters (AAHS) such as GenK, MhbT and PcaK. We demonstrate that the genes HBT1 and HBT2 encoding putative transporters are highly upregulated in C. parapsilosis cells assimilating hydroxybenzoate substrates and the corresponding proteins reside in the plasma membrane. Phenotypic analyses of knockout mutants and hydroxybenzoate uptake assays provide compelling evidence that the permeases Hbt1 and Hbt2 transport the substrates that are metabolized via the gentisate (3-hydroxybenzoate, gentisate) and 3-oxoadipate pathway (4-hydroxybenzoate, 2,4-dihydroxybenzoate and protocatechuate), respectively. Our data support the hypothesis that the carriers belong to the AAHS family of MFS transporters. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that the orthologs of Hbt permeases are widespread in the subphylum Pezizomycotina, but have a sparse distribution among Saccharomycotina lineages. Moreover, these analyses shed additional light on the evolution of biochemical pathways involved in the catabolic degradation of hydroxyaromatic compounds.
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