Novel insights into phenotype and mitochondrial proteome of yeast mutants lacking proteins Sco1p or Sco2p

Arabidopsis SCO Proteins Oppositely Influence Cytochrome c Oxidase Levels and Gene Expression during Salinity Stress

SCO (synthesis of cytochrome c oxidase) proteins are involved in the insertion of copper during the assembly of cytochrome c oxidase (COX), the final enzyme of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. Two SCO proteins, namely, homolog of copper chaperone 1 and 2 (HCC1 and HCC2) are present in seed plants, but HCC2 lacks the residues involved in copper binding, leading to uncertainties about its function. In this study, we performed a transcriptomic and phenotypic analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana plants with reduced expression of HCC1 or HCC2. We observed that a deficiency in HCC1 causes a decrease in the expression of several stress-responsive genes, both under basal growth conditions and after applying a short-term high salinity treatment. In addition, HCC1 deficient plants show a faster decrease in chlorophyll content, photosystem II quantum efficiency and COX levels after salinity stress, as well as a faster increase in alternative oxidase capacity. Notably, HCC2 deficiency causes opposite changes in most of these parameters. Bimolecular fluorescence complementation analysis indicated that both proteins are able to interact. We postulate that HCC1 is a limiting factor for COX assembly during high salinity conditions and that HCC2 probably acts as a negative modulator of HCC1 activity through protein-protein interactions. In addition, a direct or indirect role of HCC1 and HCC2 in the gene expression response to stress is proposed.

Quantitative phenotypic analysis of multistress response in Zygosaccharomyces rouxii complex

Zygosaccharomyces rouxii complex comprises three yeasts clusters sourced from sugar- and salt-rich environments: haploid Zygosaccharomyces rouxii, diploid Zygosaccharomyces sapae and allodiploid/aneuploid strains of uncertain taxonomic affiliations. These yeasts have been characterized with respect to gene copy number variation, karyotype variability and change in ploidy, but functional diversity in stress responses has not been explored yet. Here, we quantitatively analysed the stress response variation in seven strains of the Z. rouxii complex by modelling growth variables via model and model-free fitting methods. Based on the spline fit as most reliable modelling method, we resolved different interstrain responses to 15 environmental perturbations. Compared with Z. rouxii CBS 732(T) and Z. sapae strains ABT301(T) and ABT601, allodiploid strain ATCC 42981 and aneuploid strains CBS 4837 and CBS 4838 displayed higher multistress resistance and better performance in glycerol respiration even in the presence of copper. μ-based logarithmic phenotypic index highlighted that ABT601 is a slow-growing strain insensitive to stress, whereas ABT301(T) grows fast on rich medium and is sensitive to suboptimal conditions. Overall, the differences in stress response could imply different adaptation mechanisms to sugar- and salt-rich niches. The obtained phenotypic profiling contributes to provide quantitative insights for elucidating the adaptive mechanisms to stress in halo- and osmo-tolerant Zygosaccharomyces yeasts.