Occurrence of the general control of amino acid biosynthesis in yeasts

Abstract

The response of three amino acid biosynthetic enzymes, threonine dehydratase, tyrosine aminotransferase and saccharopine dehydrogenase, to conditions of histidine, tryptophan or lysine limitation was investigated in 15 yeast species. The activities of all these enzymes increased about two- to fourfold as a result of action of the general control of amino acid biosynthesis in Brettanomyces anomalus, Candida maltosa, Hansenula polymorpha, Rhodosporidium toruloides, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Yarrowia lipolytica. No evidence for the existence of the general control was found in Candida brumptii, Candida utilis, Hansenula anomala, Hansenula henricii, Kluyveromyces marxianus, Pichia guilliermondii, Saccharomycopsis capsularis, Trichosporon adeninovorans and Trigonopsis variabilis.

Cloning and sequence of a 3·835 kbp DNA fragment containing the HIS4 gene and a fragment of a PEX5-like gene from Candida albicans

“…This consensus DNA sequence is TGACTC, although small variations are permitted (Hinnebusch, 1988). A general amino acid biosynthetic control similar to the one described in S. cerevisiae has been found in other organisms like Aspergillus nidulans, Neurospora crassa (Hinnebusch, 1988), Candida maltosa, Hansenula polymorpha and Yarrowia lipolytica, while others like Candida utilis, Hansenula anomala, Kluyveromyces marxianus and Pichia guillermondi seem to be devoid of it (Bode et al, 1990).…”

“…Whilst some indications have suggested the existence of such a general control, which in Candida spp. is diverse (Bode et al, 1990), a recent report of a putative general control of amino acid biosynthesis in C. albicans has been shown for the ARO3 gene (Pereira and Livi, 1995). Experiments to determine factors influencing the expression of the CaHIS4 gene are being carried out in our laboratory to test if this gene is under a general control of amino acid biosynthesis similar to the S. cerevisiae GCN system.…”

Candida maltosa

“…Thus, the presence of amitrol (3-amino-l,2,4-triazol), as a very efficient histidine antimetabolite leading to histidine depletion, leads to a two-to threefold derepression of the effected biosynthetic enzymes of lysine (Schmidt et al 1985), leucine, isoleucine and valine (Bode 1991), and several other enzymes involved in different pathways ). The activities of three amino acid biosynthetic enzymes, threonine dehydratase, tyrosine aminotransferase, and saccharopine dehydrogenase, increased about two-to fourfold (in response to conditions of histidine, tryptophan, or lysine limitation) as a result of action of the general control of amino acid biosynthesis in several yeasts, including C. maltosa, Hansenula polymorpha, S. cerevisiae, and Y. lipolytica, whereas no evidence for the existence of this general control was found in C. brumptii, C. utilis, Pichia guilliermondii, Trichosporon adeninovorans, and other yeasts (Bode et al 1990).…”

“…The glyphosate inhibition of growth causes accumulation of shikimic acid and shikimate-3-phosphate and leads to increased synthesis of several enzymes of unrelated pathways, which are regulated by the general control of amino acid biosynthesis, which is also known in other fungi. An identical derepression of enzymes could be obtained in C. maltosa by use of other amino acid antimetabolites (amitrol), amino acid mutants strains, or under conditions of external amino acid imbalance (Bode et al , 1990. The general control of amino acid biosynthesis is characterized in C. maltosa as in other yeasts by a noncoordinated, parallel increase in the level of enzymes of several unrelated amino acid pathways in response to starvation for one of these amino acids.…”

HARO7 Encodes Chorismate Mutase of the Methylotrophic Yeast Hansenula polymorpha and Is Derepressed upon Methanol Utilization

“…Therefore, transcript levels of HARO7 mRNA were quantified under conditions of amino acid starvation. H. polymorpha RB11 was grown in minimal medium supplemented with the false feedback inhibitor 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole (3-AT) at 1 mM to induce histidine starvation and to derepress the general control system of amino acid biosynthesis (3,28). Specific DAHP synthase activities (EC 4.1.2.15) determined in crude extracts of RB11 grown in the absence or presence of 3-AT, respectively, were used as a control and showed an increase by a factor of 2 (data not shown), indicating that the general control of amino acid biosynthesis had been induced by the false feedback inhibitor (66).…”