Anhydrobiosis in yeast: cell wall mannoproteins are important for yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae resistance to dehydration

Abstract

The state of anhydrobiosis is linked with the reversible delay of metabolism as a result of strong dehydration of cells, and is widely distributed in nature. A number of factors responsible for the maintenance of organisms' viability in these conditions have been revealed. This study was directed to understanding how changes in cell wall structure may influence the resistance of yeasts to dehydration-rehydration. Mutants lacking various cell wall mannoproteins were tested to address this issue. It was revealed that mutants lacking proteins belonging to two structurally and functionally unrelated groups (proteins non-covalently attached to the cell wall, and Pir proteins) possessed significantly lower cell resistance to dehydration-rehydration than the mother wildtype strain. At the same time, the absence of the GPI-anchored cell wall protein Ccw12 unexpectedly resulted in an increase of cell resistance to this treatment; this phenomenon is explained by the compensatory synthesis of chitin. The results clearly indicate that the cell wall structure/composition relates to parameters strongly influencing yeast viability during the processes of dehydration-rehydration, and that damage to cell wall proteins during yeast desiccation can be an important factor leading to cell death.

Towards water-free biobanks: long-term dry-preservation at room temperature of desiccation-sensitive enzyme luciferase in air-dried insect cells

“…Desiccation tolerance in yeast is not only relying on anhydro-protectants but the cell wall also present an effective protection for constitutive proteins. The cell wall reduces mechanical stress occurring through changes in osmotic pressure due to desiccation 36 . However, even a yeast cell equipped with such physical properties can barely protect an enzyme in the dry state for long-term storage.…”

“…However, even a yeast cell equipped with such physical properties can barely protect an enzyme in the dry state for long-term storage. Although Pv11 cells derived from a eukaryotic organism showing desiccation tolerance similar to that of the yeast, they achieve anhydrobiosis without cell wall, and the mechanism of their desiccation tolerance should be partially different from that of yeast 36, 37 .…”

Towards water-free biobanks: long-term dry-preservation at room temperature of desiccation-sensitive enzyme luciferase in air-dried insect cells

“…The enzyme drypreservation at 10% level for 2 days at 60% RH was accomplished in Saccharomyces cerevisiae , a eukaryote with desiccation tolerance 27 . In yeast, the cell wall has constitutive proteins potentially reducing the physical stress derived from the change in osmotic pressure during desiccation 28 . Although Pv11 cells derived from a eukaryotic organism showing desiccation tolerance similar to that of the yeast, they achieve anhydrobiosis without cell wall, and the mechanism of their desiccation tolerance is probably slightly different from that of the yeast 28,31 .…”

“…Desiccation tolerance in yeast does not only rely on anhydroprotectants but also on the cell wall creating effective protection for constitutive proteins. The cell wall reduces mechanical stress occurring through changes in osmotic pressure due to desiccation 28 . However, even a yeast equipped with such physical properties can barely protect an enzyme in the dry state for long-term storage.…”

Identification by phenotypic and genetic approaches of an indigenous Saccharomyces cerevisiae wine strain with high desiccation tolerance

“…Stationary-phase cells were collected and resuspended in YPD medium with skim milk powder (Oxoid) added as protectant agent (3% v/v); the samples were spray-dried in a Mini Spray-drier B-191 Buchi with the following conditions: outlet air temperature 60°C and inlet air temperature 120°C (Romano et al, 2015). The dry matter of spray-dried samples was determined by drying in a convection oven at 105°C until constant weight, after~24 h. The powder samples obtained after drying were rehydrated using fast rehydration, which was performed in distilled water for 10 min at room temperature (Borovikova et al, 2016). After rehydration, cell viability was determined as reported above.…”