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1
3
1,*
1 Institute of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana,
Vrazov Trg 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
2 Institute of Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana,
Vrazov Trg 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
3 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Institute Jo
ef
Stefan, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
4 Biology Department, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Vecna
pot 111, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
*
Correspondence: Ana Plemenita
,
ana.plemenitas{at}mf.uni-lj.si
| Abstract |
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Keywords Adaptation / extremophiles / isoprenylation / lovastatin / mevalonate regulation
| INTRODUCTION |
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et al.
1999, Vaupoti
et
al. 2007): while HMGR activity was highly dependent on
environmental NaCl concentrations, the sterol content in H. werneckii
did not change accordingly (Mejanelle
et al. 2001, Turk
et al. 2004), indicating that regulation of HMGR activity
influences the metabolic flux of mevalonate differently to the biosynthesis of
sterols, possibly at the pre-squalene level. In this study, we have explored effects of salinity on HMGR regulation in five fungi species from solar salterns: the halotolerant Aureobasidium pullulans, and the halophilic Phaeotheca triangularis, Trimmatostroma salinum (Dothideales), Eurotium amstelodami (Eurotiales) and Wallemia ichthyophaga (Wallemiales). In particular, we have addressed the correlation between their HMGR activity and halophilic character. Two further species were included as additional references: a moderately halophilic yeast D. hansenii, and a salt-sensitive (i.e. mesophilic) yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We demonstrate here a specific HMGR regulation by environmental salinity that correlates well with the halophilic character of these fungi. Focused on H. werneckii, the best characterized of the halophilic fungi from solar salterns, we also provide evidence that HMGR activity is crucial for halotolerance as well as for the changes in protein prenylation in response to changing salinity.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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ovlje salterns at
the Slovenian Adriatic coast: H. werneckii (MZKI B736), P.
triangularis (MZKI B741), T. salinum (MZKI B734), A.
pullulans (MZKI B802), E. amstelodami (MZKI A561), W.
ichthyophaga (EXF 994). These have been deposited in the culture
collections of the Slovenian National Institute of Chemistry (MZKI) or of EXF
at the Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana.
The reference strains were the salt-sensitive S. cerevisiae (MZKI
K86) and the moderately halophilic D. hansenii
(CBS 767), from
Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures (CBS) Utrecht, The Netherlands. The fungi
were grown at 28 °C (30 °C for S. cerevisiae) on a
rotary shaker at 180 rpm in defined YNB medium adjusted to the indicated NaCl
concentrations at pH 7.0. The cells were harvested in mid-exponential phase by
centrifugation (4,000x g, 10 min), washed in 50 mM Tris-HCl, pH
7, and frozen in liquid nitrogen. The YNB medium agar plates were also
prepared with 50 µM lovastatin (Lek). Ten µL of H. werneckii
liquid culture were spotted onto agar plates and incubated for seven days
prior to microscopy studies.
Measurement of HMGR activity
HMGR activity was measured as decribed previously
(Petrovi
, et al.
1999; Vaupoti
, et
al. 2007). Briefly, cell lysates were prepared from
exponentially growing cells by disruption with a microdismembranator, in
homogenization buffer (50 mM Tris, pH 8.5, 20 % glycerol, 0.5 % NaCl, 0.5 %
Triton X-100; or at pH 7.0, without glycerol and NaCl for S.
cerevisiae) containing fungal protease inhibitors (Sigma). The lysates
were fractionated into soluble fraction and cellular debris by centrifugation
(600x g, 15 min). After following centrifugation at
10,000x g, the supernatants were used for HMGR activity
assessments. Protein concentrations were measured by spectrophotometry at 590
nm using the Bradford method with Nanoquant reagent (Roth). HMGR activity was
assayed with 50 µg total protein with
D-3-[3-14C]-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA and
R,S-[5-3H(N)]-mevalonolactone (NEN) as substrate and
internal standard, respectively. HMGR activity was expressed as pmol HMG-CoA
converted to mevalonate min-1.(mg protein)-1 and are
given as means ± standard error from at least three independent
experiments.
Western blotting
Cell lysates were prepared, with 20 µg protein boiled for 10 min in
5x protein-loading buffer (Fermentas), separated by SDS-PAGE on 10 %
polyacrylamide gels, and transferred to PVDF membranes (Roth). Immunodetection
was performed with antibodies against HMGR (Upstate) and β-actin, and
secondary antibodies conjugated with HRP (Santa Cruz Biotechnology), using the
ECL detection system (Amersham Bioscience).
Metabolic radiolabelling with [3H]-mevalonate
Hortea werneckii was grown in media with the indicated NaCl
concentrations, without or with 50 µM lovastatin and with 0.75 µCi/mL
[3H]-mevalonate ([3H]-MVA; 50 Ci/mmol) added in the
early logarithmic phase. The cells were harvested during the exponential phase
by centrifugation and washed several times with PBS. Total protein was
isolated from 200 mg of cells using the TRIzol reagent (Invitrogen), and then
solubilized in 1 % SDS. Protein concentrations were determined
spectrophotometricaly using the BCA method (Pierce). A delipidation procedure
was performed to release the [3H]-MVA-derived moiety from 200 µg
labelled cellular protein, as described previously
(Konrad & Eichler 2002).
Briefly, SDS-solubilized proteins were incubated in 0.5 M HCl at 95 °C for
1 h, with vigorous shaking. Samples were extracted twice with
chloroform/methanol (2:1, v/v), and radioactivity released was quantified in
the organic fraction by scintillation counting. Incorporation of
[3H]-MVA was expressed as pmol of incorporated [3H]-MVA
per mg protein, as means ±standard error from three independent
experiments.
Microscopy
For morphological analysis of cells, fungi were washed in fresh growth
medium, added to glass slides and covered with a coverslip. To prevent
evaporation, the coverslip was sealed with nail-polish. Cell morphology was
examined under an inverted light microscope (Nikon Eclipse 300) and images
taken with a digital camera (Nikon DS-5M).
| RESULTS |
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The mevalonate-derived lipid modifications of proteins correlate with HMGR activity in H. werneckii
To determine whether non-sterol mevalonate-derived lipid modifications of
proteins accounted for the HMGR activity profile at these different
environmental salinities, we investigated the incorporation of radioactively
labelled mevalonate derivatives into proteins, as covalently linked lipid
moieties. The H. werneckii cells were grown under different NaCl
concentrations in the presence of [3H]-mevalonate, without or with
lovastatin. After harsh acidic delipidation of the isolated proteins, the
[3H]-labelled lipids released were assessed using a
chloroform/methanol extraction: both the total radioactivity of the protein
fractions and the lipid-derived radioactivity after protein delipidation were
lowest at optimal growth salinity (17 % NaCl), and approximately 2.5-fold
higher in hyposaline (0 % NaCl) and hypersaline (25 % NaCl) media
(Fig. 4), following the HMGR
activity profile of H. werneckii
(Fig. 1). Treatment with
lovastatin increased the incorporation of [3H]-mevalonate into the
lipids from cellular proteins as a consequence of its the inhibitory effect on
production of endogenous mevalonate. However, this was most evident in
salt-free medium, where lovastatin treatment had less effect on growth.
|
| DISCUSSION |
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Very little is known about the regulation of HMGR in extremophilic
eukaryotes. To date, some reports have demonstrated that expression and/or
activity of HMGR is regulated in response to non-optimal salinity, i.e. in the
halophilic archaeon Haloferax volcanii, where authors demonstrated
the HMGR at the level of protein ampunt and activity was conspicuously
increased during growth at high salinity
(Bidle et al. 2007).
In our previous reports on halophilic black yeast, we also showed a similar
response in halophilic yeast Hortaea werneckii
(Petrovi
et al.
1999). In our ongoing investigations into proteins linked to
halophily in H. werneckii
(Vaupoti
et al.
2007), HMGR is one of the so-called "salt-responsive"
enzymes, where proten levels and/or enzyme activities increase under both
hyposaline and hypersaline conditions. We have shown that at optimal growth
salinity, HMGR undergoes ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation
(Vaupoti
& Plemenita
2007). Here, we provide additional evidence that
salinity-dependent regulation of HMGR activity in H. werneckii is
linked to its halotolerant character (Figs
2,
3), as inhibition of HMGR by
lovastatin resulted in a considerably more salt-sensitive phenotype. Also, the
morphological changes with both salt and lovastatin clearly indicate a defect
in cell proliferation (Fig. 3).
These data demonstrate further that HMGR activity is required for the
halotolerant character of H. werneckii. Based on the data in the
present study, we can speculate that this could similarly be true for other
halophilic fungi in this study, where similar HMGR enzyme activities and
protein profiles were seen (Fig.
1).
As we have shown previously, the sterol composition in H. werneckii did not change significantly at different salinities (Mejanelle et al. 2001, Turk et al. 2004) as we could expect according to HMGR activity fluctuations. Therefore, we sought evidence for changes in other mevalonate-derived, but pre-squalene isoprenoid intermediates, to reflect the metabolic effects of the HMGR activity profile in H. werneckii. Derivatives of pre-squalen isoprenoids are important regulatory determinants of prenylated proteins implicated in cell-cycle progression and cell proliferation, since their attachement to proteins directes them to cellular mebranes (Brown & Goldstein 1980, Siperstein 1984). Using [3H]-mevalonate and the highly selective HMGR inhibitor lovastatin in metabolic labelling experiments, we have clearly demonstrated that modification of protein by the mevalonate-derived lipid moiety not only reflects the profile of HMGR activity, but also the responses to HMGR inhibition (Fig. 4). Combining the growth inhibitory effect of lovastatin treatment in salt containing media with the HMGR activity-dependent protein prenylation profile, we might conclude that lovastatin-mediated reduction in halotolerance was not merely the result of a non-specific inhibitory effect on overall cellular function, but rather reflects a protein-prenylation-specific event. Based on this data we can conclude, that in salterns-inhabiting fungi the regulation of HMGR activity by environmental salinity reflects more distinctively at the level of the metabolic flux through the pre-squalene part of the mevalonate pathway, rather than at the level of post-squalene regulation of sterol content. The higher activity of HMGR in hyposaline and hypersaline media could be connected with specific metabolic demands, when increased flux through the mevalonate pathway may be needed for prenylation and the subsequent membrane localisation of specific proteins that are not essential for growth in an optimal environment. In evolutionary terms, the maintenance of high levels of HMGR in hyposaline and hypersaline environments may also reflect physiological adaptation of halophilic fungi to metabolic demands under extreme conditions.
In conclusion, the key metabolic enzyme, HMGR, has been studied in a previously non-characterised group of halophilic fungi. The present study documents that both HMGR activity and protein levels in halophilic fungi depend on environmental salinity. In the extremely halotolerant H. werneckii, the biological consequence of HMGR regulation relates to posttranslational modification of proteins by prenylation. Therefore our findings provide a new insight for understanding the regulation of the mevalonate pathway as a response to changes in environmental NaCl concentrations. We propose the HMGR enzyme as an important biochemical signature of halophily in the Fungal kingdom.
| Acknowledgments |
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i
for technical assistence with HMGR activity
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