The wis1 signal transduction pathway is required for expression of cAMP-repressed genes in fission yeast

Protein kinase Sck1 is involved in trehalase activation by glucose and nitrogen source in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe

Trehalase activity is markedly enhanced upon addition of glucose and a nitrogen source to cells of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. This increase corresponds to a post-translational activation of the enzyme, which is controlled by cAMP-dependent and cAMP-independent pathways. Recent work has shown that overexpression of SCK1 in Schiz. pombe is able to suppress mutations that result in reduced Pka1 (cAMP-dependent protein kinase A activity, suggesting that Sck1 (suppressor of loss of cAMP-dependent protein kinase) might be a functional analogue of Pka1 in the fission yeast. Here, an analysis of the possible role of Sck1 in the activation of trehalase triggered by glucose and a nitrogen source is reported in cells that were deficient in either Pka1, Sck1 or both protein kinases. The results showed that, except in repressed cells, Sck1 probably mediates a cAMP-independent activation of trehalase following the signal(s) triggered by glucose and the nitrogen source. The absence of functional Sck1 in depressed cells renders trehalase insensitive to activation by glucose and the nitrogen source even in the presence of Pka1, indicating that the Sck1-dependent, cAMP-independent pathway is the main signalling pathway controlling trehalase activation under derepression conditions. It is proposed that, during the activation of trehalase induced by glucose or a nitrogen source, the cAMP-Pka1 activation pathway previously characterized is to some extent parallel to this newly described one which includes Sck1 as phosphorylating enzyme. Neither of these two pathways, however, plays a key role in the heat-induced increase in trehalase activity.

Osmo-stress-induced changes in neutral trehalase activity of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe

Exposure of repressed growing cultures of Schizosaccharomyces pombe to various extracellular concentrations of NaCl, sorbitol or glycerol resulted in a reversible increase in neutral trehalase activity which was maintained while the cells were in the presence of high environmental osmolarity. Treatment of osmo-stress-induced trehalase by phosphatase lead to a decreased activity indicating that the active enzyme is phosphorylated. The stress response following the osmotic shock required protein synthesis and was independent of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase pathway. Cells disrupted for wis] or phh1 (identical to sty1 and spc1), which encode members of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade, showed that the osmo-stress-induced increase in trehalase markedly diminished. In contrast, the heat shock-induced increase in trehalase remained unchanged in these cells. Taken together, the data suggest that the elevation of trehalase activity in Schiz. pombe under conditions of high osmolarity is due to de novo synthesis of the enzyme and that this process is modulated through a MAPK signal transduction pathway as part of the physiological response to the osmotic stress. The wisl-phhl MAPK cascade, however, does not appear to form part of the mechanism underlaying the increase in trehalase after heat stress.

The Atf1 transcription factor is a target for the Sty1 stress-activated MAP kinase pathway in fission yeast

The atf1+ gene of Schizosaccharomyces pombe encodes a bZIP transcription factor with strong homology to the mammalian factor ATF-2. ATF-2 is regulated through phosphorylation in mammalian cells by the stress-activated mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases SAPK/JNK and p38. We show here that the fission yeast Atf1 factor is also regulated by a stress-activated kinase, Sty1. The Sty1 kinase is stimulated by a variety of different stress conditions including osmotic and oxidative stress and heat shock. Deletion of the atf1+ gene results in many, but not all, of the phenotypes associated with loss of Sty1, including sensitivity to environmental stress and inability to undergo sexual conjugation. Furthermore, we identify a number of target genes that are induced rapidly in a manner dependent upon both the Sty1 kinase and the Atf1 transcription factor. These genes include gpd1+, which is important for the response of cells to osmotic stress, the catalase gene lambda important for cells to combat oxidative stress, and pyp2+, which encodes a tyrosine-specific MAP kinase phosphatase. Induction of Pyp2 by Atf1 is direct in that it does not require de novo protein synthesis and results in a negative feedback loop that serves to control signaling through the Sty1/Wis1 pathway. We show that Atf1 associates stably and is phosphorylated by the Sty1 kinase in vitro. Taken together, these results indicate that the interaction between AM and Sty1 is direct. These findings highlight a remarkable level of conservation in transcriptional control by stress-activated MAP kinase pathways between fission yeast and mammalian cells.

The Schizosaccharomyces pombe pyp1 protein tyrosine phosphatase negatively regulates nutrient monitoring pathways

The Schizosaccharomyces pombe pyp1+ gene, encoding a protein tyrosine phosphatase (pyp1), was isolated as a high copy number suppressor of a mutation that results in reduced cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) activity. Overexpression of pyp1+ inhibits both transcription of the fbp1 gene, which is negatively regulated by a glucose-induced activation of PKA, and sexual development, which is negatively regulated by PKA through a nitrogen- and glucose-monitoring mechanism. Overexpression of a catalytically inactive form of pyp1 has little effect on either process. Previous studies suggest that overexpression of pyp1+ results in a mitotic delay by positively regulating wee1 activity. We show that pyp1 repression of fbp1 transcription is independent of wee1. The direct role of the pyp1 protein is to dephosphorylate and inactivate the sty1/spc1 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) that is activated by the wis1 MAPK kinase. As overexpression of pyp1+ has no further effect upon the mitotic delay observed in a wis1 deletion strain, the role of pyp1 appears to be restricted to negative regulation of the sty1/spc1 MAPK. This study indicates that pyp1 negatively regulates fbp1 transcription, sexual development and mitosis by inactivation of the sty1/spc1 MAPK, but that bifurcations downstream of the MAPK separate these processes as seen by the differential role for the wee1 gene.