Project description:In Scheffersomyces stipitis and related fungal species the genes for L-rhamnose catabolism RHA1, LRA2, LRA3 and LRA4 but not LADH are clustered. We find that located next to the cluster is a transcription factor, TRC1, which is conserved among related species.Our transcriptome analysis shows that all the catabolic genes and all genes of the cluster are up-regulated on L-rhamnose. Among the genes that were also up-regulated on L-rhamnose were two transcription factors including the TRC1. In addition, in 16 out of the 32 analysed fungal species only RHA1, LRA2 and LRA3 are in a cluster. The clustering of RHA1, LRA3 and TRC1 is also conserved in species not closely related to S. stipitis. Since the LRA4 is often not part of the cluster and it has several paralogs in L-rhamnose utilising yeasts we analysed the function of one of the paralogs, RHA41 by heterologous expression and biochemical characterization. Rha41p has similar catalytic properties but the transcript was not up-regulated on L-rhamnose. The RHA1, LRA2, LRA4 and LADH genes were previously characterized in Sheffersomyces (Pichia) stipitis. We expressed the L-rhamnonate dehydratase, Rha3p, in S. cerevisiae, estimated the kinetic constants of the protein and showed that it indeed has activity with L-rhamnonate.
Project description:In Scheffersomyces stipitis and related fungal species the genes for L-rhamnose catabolism RHA1, LRA2, LRA3 and LRA4 but not LADH are clustered. We find that located next to the cluster is a transcription factor, TRC1, which is conserved among related species.Our transcriptome analysis shows that all the catabolic genes and all genes of the cluster are up-regulated on L-rhamnose. Among the genes that were also up-regulated on L-rhamnose were two transcription factors including the TRC1. In addition, in 16 out of the 32 analysed fungal species only RHA1, LRA2 and LRA3 are in a cluster. The clustering of RHA1, LRA3 and TRC1 is also conserved in species not closely related to S. stipitis. Since the LRA4 is often not part of the cluster and it has several paralogs in L-rhamnose utilising yeasts we analysed the function of one of the paralogs, RHA41 by heterologous expression and biochemical characterization. Rha41p has similar catalytic properties but the transcript was not up-regulated on L-rhamnose. The RHA1, LRA2, LRA4 and LADH genes were previously characterized in Sheffersomyces (Pichia) stipitis. We expressed the L-rhamnonate dehydratase, Rha3p, in S. cerevisiae, estimated the kinetic constants of the protein and showed that it indeed has activity with L-rhamnonate. A six chip study using total RNA recovered from three separate cultures of S. stipitis CBS 6054 grown glucose and respectively three separate cultures grown on rhamnose
Project description:The ascomycetes Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Candida albicans and Scheffersomyces stipitis metabolize the pentose sugar xylose very differently. S. cerevisiae fails to grow on xylose, while C. albicans can grow, and S. stipitis can both grow and ferment xylose to ethanol. However, all three species contain highly similar genes that encode xylose reductase and xylitol dehydrogenase required to convert xylose to xylulose, on which all three fungi grow. We have created C. albicans strains deleted for either or both the xylose reductase gene GRE3, and the xylitol dehydrogenase gene XYL2. As expected, all the mutant strains cannot grow on xylose, while the gre3 mutant can grow on xylitol. The gre3 and xyl2 mutants are complemented efficiently by the XYL1 and XYL2 from S. stipitis respectively. Intriguingly, the S. cerevisiae GRE3 and SOR1 genes can complement the gre3 and xyl2 mutants respectively, showing that S. cerevisiae contains the enzymatic capacity for converting xylose to xylulose. In addition, the gre3 xyl2 double mutant is effectively rescued by the xylose isomerase (XI) gene of either Piromyces or Orpinomyces, suggesting that the XI provides an alternative to the missing oxido-reductase functions in the mutant required for the xylose-xylulose conversion. Overall this work establishes that C. albicans strains engineered to lack essential steps for xylose metabolism provide a platform for the analysis of xylose metabolism enzymes from a variety of species, and confirms that S. cerevisiae has the genetic potential to convert xylose to xylulose, although non-engineered strains cannot proliferate on xylose as the sole carbon source.
Project description:The ascomycetes Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Candida albicans and Scheffersomyces stipitis metabolize the pentose sugar xylose very differently. S. cerevisiae fails to grow on xylose, while C. albicans can grow, and S. stipitis can both grow and ferment xylose to ethanol. However, all three species contain highly similar genes that encode xylose reductase and xylitol dehydrogenase required to convert xylose to xylulose, on which all three fungi grow. We have created C. albicans strains deleted for either or both the xylose reductase gene GRE3, and the xylitol dehydrogenase gene XYL2. As expected, all the mutant strains cannot grow on xylose, while the gre3 mutant can grow on xylitol. The gre3 and xyl2 mutants are complemented efficiently by the XYL1 and XYL2 from S. stipitis respectively. Intriguingly, the S. cerevisiae GRE3 and SOR1 genes can complement the gre3 and xyl2 mutants respectively, showing that S. cerevisiae contains the enzymatic capacity for converting xylose to xylulose. In addition, the gre3 xyl2 double mutant is effectively rescued by the xylose isomerase (XI) gene of either Piromyces or Orpinomyces, suggesting that the XI provides an alternative to the missing oxido-reductase functions in the mutant required for the xylose-xylulose conversion. Overall this work establishes that C. albicans strains engineered to lack essential steps for xylose metabolism provide a platform for the analysis of xylose metabolism enzymes from a variety of species, and confirms that S. cerevisiae has the genetic potential to convert xylose to xylulose, although non-engineered strains cannot proliferate on xylose as the sole carbon source. Transcription profile of cells in xylose compared to glucose. Two sets: Candida albicans, 1 condition ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae 2 conditions / in xylose (SX) or no sugar (S) (replicates with dye-swap)