Ustilago maydis KP6 killer toxin: structure, expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and relationship to other cellular toxins

The revenge of Zygosaccharomyces yeasts in food biotechnology and applied microbiology

Non-conventional yeasts refer to a huge and still poorly explored group of species alternative to the well-known model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Among them, Zygosaccharomyces rouxii and the sister species Zygosaccharomyces bailii are infamous for spoiling food and beverages even in presence of several food preservatives. On the other hand, their capability to cope with a wide range of process conditions makes these yeasts very attractive factories (the so-called "ZygoFactories") for bio-converting substrates poorly permissive for the growth of other species. In balsamic vinegar Z. rouxii is the main yeast responsible for converting highly concentrated sugars into ethanol, with a preference for fructose over glucose (a trait called fructophily). Z. rouxii has also attracted much attention for the ability to release important flavor compounds, such as fusel alcohols and the derivatives of 4-hydroxyfuranone, which markedly contribute to fragrant and smoky aroma in soy sauce. While Z. rouxii was successfully proposed in brewing for producing low ethanol beer, Z. bailii is promising for lactic acid and bioethanol production. Recently, several research efforts exploited omics tools to pinpoint the genetic bases of distinctive traits in "ZygoFactories", like fructophily, tolerance to high concentrations of sugars, lactic acid and salt. Here, I provided an overview of Zygosaccharomyces industrially relevant phenotypes and summarized the most recent findings in disclosing their genetic bases. I suggest that the increasing number of genomes available for Z. rouxii and other Zygosaccharomyces relatives, combined with recently developed genetic engineering toolkits, will boost the applications of these yeasts in biotechnology and applied microbiology.

Propeptide genesis by Kex2-dependent cleavage of yeast wall protein 1 (Ywp1) of Candida albicans

Candida albicans is a prevalent fungal resident and opportunistic pathogen of humans, exhibiting a variety of ovoid and filamentous morphologies. Anchored within the cell wall of the ovoid yeast form of C. albicans is an abundant glycoprotein termed yeast wall protein 1 (Ywp1). Ywp1 has an antiadhesive effect that may facilitate yeast cell dispersal; it also contributes to the masking of the glucan matrix of the yeast cell wall, potentially providing shielding from recognition by the human immune system. Mature Ywp1 consists of an O-glycosylated core of 378 amino acids associated with an N-glycosylated propeptide that originates from an N-terminal segment of Ywp1. A tribasic (-RRR-) sequence in the immature Ywp1 polypeptide is separated by 8 amino acids from a dibasic (-KR-) sequence that is a canonical site for cleavage by the intracellular endopeptidase Kex2, and cleavage occurs at both of these sites to generate an 11 kilodalton (kDa) propeptide that remains strongly associated with the mature core of Ywp1. Previous studies demonstrated an absence of the 11 kDa propeptide in strains lacking Kex2, but the presence of lesser amounts of a 12 kDa propeptide ostensibly (and paradoxically) arising from cleavage at the dibasic site. Subsequent studies of wild type strains, however, suggested that post-secretion cleavages were carried out in vitro by acid proteases in unbuffered cultures to generate the 12 kDa propeptide. Here, intact and Gfp-tagged Ywp1 are utilized to show that neither of the two multibasic sites is normally cleaved in the absence of Kex2, but that uncleaved Ywp1 is still N-glycosylated and subsequently anchored to the cell wall. This furthers our understanding of the multistep cleavage of this highly conserved sequence, as well as the possible contributions of the cleaved propeptide to the maturation and functioning of Ywp1.

The Biology of Pichia membranifaciens Killer Toxins

The killer phenomenon is defined as the ability of some yeast to secrete toxins that are lethal to other sensitive yeasts and filamentous fungi. Since the discovery of strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae capable of secreting killer toxins, much information has been gained regarding killer toxins and this fact has substantially contributed knowledge on fundamental aspects of cell biology and yeast genetics. The killer phenomenon has been studied in Pichia membranifaciens for several years, during which two toxins have been described. PMKT and PMKT2 are proteins of low molecular mass that bind to primary receptors located in the cell wall structure of sensitive yeast cells, linear (1→6)-β-d-glucans and mannoproteins for PMKT and PMKT2, respectively. Cwp2p also acts as a secondary receptor for PMKT. Killing of sensitive cells by PMKT is characterized by ionic movements across plasma membrane and an acidification of the intracellular pH triggering an activation of the High Osmolarity Glycerol (HOG) pathway. On the contrary, our investigations showed a mechanism of killing in which cells are arrested at an early S-phase by high concentrations of PMKT2. However, we concluded that induced mortality at low PMKT2 doses and also PMKT is indeed of an apoptotic nature. Killer yeasts and their toxins have found potential applications in several fields: in food and beverage production, as biocontrol agents, in yeast bio-typing, and as novel antimycotic agents. Accordingly, several applications have been found for P. membranifaciens killer toxins, ranging from pre- and post-harvest biocontrol of plant pathogens to applications during wine fermentation and ageing (inhibition of Botrytis cinerea, Brettanomyces bruxellensis, etc.).

KP4 to control Ustilago tritici in wheat: Enhanced greenhouse resistance to loose smut and changes in transcript abundance of pathogen related genes in infected KP4 plants

Ustilago tritici causes loose smut, which is a seed-borne fungal disease of wheat, and responsible for yield losses up to 40%. Loose smut is a threat to seed production in developing countries where small scale farmers use their own harvest as seed material. The killer protein 4 (KP4) is a virally encoded toxin from Ustilago maydis and inhibits growth of susceptible races of fungi from the Ustilaginales. Enhanced resistance in KP4 wheat to stinking smut, which is caused by Tilletia caries, had been reported earlier. We show that KP4 in genetically engineered wheat increased resistance to loose smut up to 60% compared to the non-KP4 control under greenhouse conditions. This enhanced resistance is dose and race dependent. The overexpression of the transgene kp4 and its effect on fungal growth have indirect effects on the expression of endogenous pathogen defense genes.

Chitinases Are Essential for Cell Separation in Ustilago maydis

Chitin is an essential component of the fungal cell wall, providing rigidity and stability. Its degradation is mediated by chitinases and supposedly ensures the dynamic plasticity of the cell wall during growth and morphogenesis. Hence, chitinases should be particularly important for fungi with dramatic morphological changes, such as Ustilago maydis. This smut fungus switches from yeast to filamentous growth for plant infection, proliferates as a mycelium in planta, and forms teliospores for spreading. Here, we investigate the contribution of its four chitinolytic enzymes to the different morphological changes during the complete life cycle in a comprehensive study of deletion strains combined with biochemical and cell biological approaches. Interestingly, two chitinases act redundantly in cell separation during yeast growth. They mediate the degradation of remnant chitin in the fragmentation zone between mother and daughter cell. In contrast, even the complete lack of chitinolytic activity does not affect formation of the infectious filament, infection, biotrophic growth, or teliospore germination. Thus, unexpectedly we can exclude a major role for chitinolytic enzymes in morphogenesis or pathogenicity of U. maydis. Nevertheless, redundant activity of even two chitinases is essential for cell separation during saprophytic growth, possibly to improve nutrient access or spreading of yeast cells by wind or rain.

Active internalization of the Penicillium chrysogenum antifungal protein PAF in sensitive aspergilli

The Penicillium chrysogenum antifungal protein PAF inhibits the growth of various filamentous fungi. In this study, PAF was found to localize to the cytoplasm of sensitive aspergilli by indirect immunofluorescence staining. The internalization process required active metabolism and ATP and was prevented by latrunculin B, suggesting an endocytotic mechanism.

Liposomes as formulation excipients for protein pharmaceuticals: a model protein study

PURPOSE

The advent of recombinant DNA technology has made possible the pharmaceutical use of a wide range of proteins and peptides. However, the complex structure of proteins renders them susceptible to physical instabilities such as denaturation, aggregation and precipitation. We tested the hypothesis that partial unfolding and exposure of hydrophobic domains leads to physical instability, and investigated approaches to stabilize protein formulations.

METHODS

KP6 beta, an 81 amino acid killer toxin from Ustilago maydis, was used as a model protean. Circular dichroism and fluorescence spectroscopy were used to study the temperature dependent folding/ unfolding characteristics of KP6 beta. ANS (1,8 anilinonaphthalene sulfonate), a fluorescent probe that partitions into hydrophobic domains, was used to detect exposure of hydrophobic domains.

RESULTS

As the temperature was elevated, near-UV CD indicated progressive loss of KP6 beta tertiary structure, while far-UV CD indicated retention of secondary structure. Increasing exposure of hydrophobic domains was observed, as indicated by the penetration of ANS. At elevated temperatures (60 degrees C), KP6 beta3 conserved most secondary structural features. However, tertiary structure was disordered, suggesting the existence of a partially folded, structured intermediate state. Liposomes bound to partially unfolded structures and prevented the formation of aggregates.

CONCLUSIONS

Partial unfolding resulted in increased exposure of hydrophobic domains and aggregation of KP6 beta, but with preservation of secondary structure. Liposomes interacted with the structured intermediate state, stabilizing the protein against aggregation. These results suggest a general formulation strategy for proteins, in which partially unfolded structures are stabilized by formulation excipients that act as molecular chaperones to avoid physical instability.

Integral membrane protein sorting to vacuoles in plant cells: evidence for two pathways

Plant cells may contain two functionally distinct vacuolar compartments. Membranes of protein storage vacuoles (PSV) are marked by the presence of alpha-tonoplast intrinsic protein (TIP), whereas lytic vacuoles (LV) are marked by the presence of gamma-TIP. Mechanisms for sorting integral membrane proteins to the different vacuoles have not been elucidated. Here we study a chimeric integral membrane reporter protein expressed in tobacco suspension culture protoplasts whose traffic was assessed biochemically by following acquisition of complex Asn-linked glycan modifications and proteolytic processing, and whose intracellular localization was determined with confocal immunofluorescence. We show that the transmembrane domain of the plant vacuolar sorting receptor BP-80 directs the reporter protein via the Golgi to the LV prevacuolar compartment, and attaching the cytoplasmic tail (CT) of gamma-TIP did not alter this traffic. In contrast, the alpha-TIP CT prevented traffic of the reporter protein through the Golgi and caused it to be localized in organelles separate from ER and from Golgi and LV prevacuolar compartment markers. These organelles had a buoyant density consistent with vacuoles, and alpha-TIP protein colocalized in them with the alpha-TIP CT reporter protein when the two were expressed together in protoplasts. These results are consistent with two separate pathways to vacuoles for membrane proteins: a direct ER to PSV pathway, and a separate pathway via the Golgi to the LV.

Yeast killer systems

The killer phenomenon in yeasts has been revealed to be a multicentric model for molecular biologists, virologists, phytopathologists, epidemiologists, industrial and medical microbiologists, mycologists, and pharmacologists. The surprisingly widespread occurrence of the killer phenomenon among taxonomically unrelated microorganisms, including prokaryotic and eukaryotic pathogens, has engendered a new interest in its biological significance as well as its theoretical and practical applications. The search for therapeutic opportunities by using yeast killer systems has conceptually opened new avenues for the prevention and control of life-threatening fungal diseases through the idiotypic network that is apparently exploited by the immune system in the course of natural infections. In this review, the biology, ecology, epidemiology, therapeutics, serology, and idiotypy of yeast killer systems are discussed.

Killer toxin-secreting double-stranded RNA mycoviruses in the yeasts Hanseniaspora uvarum and Zygosaccharomyces bailii

Killer toxin-secreting strains of the yeasts Hanseniaspora uvarum and Zygosaccharomyces bailii were shown to contain linear double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) that persist within the cytoplasm of the infected host cell as encapsidated virus-like particles. In both yeasts, L- and M-dsRNAs were associated with 85-kDa major capsid protein, whereas the additional Z-dsRNA (2.8 kb), present only in the wild-type Z. bailii killer strain, was capsid protein, whereas the additional Z-dsRNA (2.8 kb), present only in the wild-type Z. bailii killer strain, was shown to be encapsidated by a 35-kDa coat protein. Although Northern (RNA) blot hybridizations indicated that L-dsRNA from Z. bailii is a LA species, additional peptide maps of the purified 85-kDa capsid from Z. bailii and the 88- and 80-kDa major coat proteins from K1 and K28 killer viruses of Saccharomyces cerevisiae revealed distinctly different patterns of peptides. Electron microscopy of purified Z. bailii viruses (ZbV) identified icosahedral particles 40 nm in diameter which were undistinguishable from the S. cerevisiae killer viruses. We demonstrated that purified ZbVs are sufficient to confer the Z. bailii killer phenotype on transfected spheroplasts of a S. cerevisiae nonkiller strain and that the resulting transfectants secreted even more killer toxin that the original ZbV donor strain did. Curing experiments with ZbV-transfected S. cerevisiae strains indicated that the M-dsRNA satellite from Z. bailii contains the genetic information for toxin production, whereas expression of toxin immunity might be dependent on Z-dsRNA, which resembles a new dsRNA replicon in yeasts that is not dependent on an LA helper virus to be stably maintained and replicated within the cell.

New developments in fungal virology

Although viruses are widely distributed in fungi, their biological significance to their hosts is still poorly understood. A large number of fungal viruses are associated with latent infections of their hosts. With the exception of the killer-immune character in the yeasts, smuts, and hypovirulence in the chestnut blight fungus, fungal properties that can specifically be related to virus infection are not well defined. Mycoviruses are not known to have natural vectors; they are transmitted in nature intracellularly by hyphal anastomosis and heterokaryosis, and are disseminated via spores. Because fungi have a potential for plasmogamy and cytoplasmic exchange during extended periods of their life cycles and because they produce many types of propagules (sexual and asexual spores), often in great profusion, mycoviruses have them accessible to highly efficient means for transmission and spread. It is no surprise, therefore, that fungal viruses are not known to have an extracellular phase to their life cycles. Although extracellular transmission of a few fungal viruses have been demonstrated, using fungal protoplasts, the lack of conventional methods for experimental transmission of these viruses have been, and remains, an obstacle to understanding their biology. The recent application of molecular biological approaches to the study of mycoviral dsRNAs and the improvements in DNA-mediated fungal transformation systems, have allowed a clearer understanding of the molecular biology of mycoviruses to emerge. Considerable progress has been made in elucidating the genome organization and expression strategies of the yeast L-A virus and the unencapsidated RNA virus associated with hypovirulence in the chestnut blight fungus. These recent advances in the biochemical and molecular characterization of the genomes of fungal viruses and associated satellite dsRNAs, as they relate to the biological properties of these viruses and to their interactions with their hosts are the focus of this chapter.

Mutants of Ustilago maydis defective in production of one of two polypeptides of KP6 toxin from the preprotoxin

Double-stranded RNA viruses of Ustilago maydis encode secreted killer toxins to which other cells of the same species and closely related species are sensitive. KP6 toxin consists of two polypeptides, alpha and beta, produced from a single precursor preprotoxin. In this work, we cloned complementary DNA for the toxin-encoding segment of two of the KP6 nonkiller mutants NK3 and NK13 that secrete the beta and alpha polypeptides, respectively. Both sequence analysis of the cDNA clones and in vitro translation of the toxin-encoding double-stranded RNAs showed that both mutants can produce full-length preprotoxins. Cys51 in alpha is converted to Arg in NK3 and Thr25 and Lys42 in beta are changed to Pro and Arg, respectively, in NK13. Although alpha and beta are encoded in a single prepropolypeptide, only the beta polypeptide is secreted by NK3 and only the alpha polypeptide is secreted by NK13. This differential expression of peptides from one precursor is a unique phenomenon. Neither of the nonsecreted polypeptides accumulated in the cytosol. The possible effects of these mutations on preprotoxin folding and their consequences for toxin secretion are discussed.

Molecular organization of Leishmania RNA virus 1

The complete 5284-nucleotide sequence of the double-stranded RNA genome of Leishmania RNA virus 1 (LRV1) was determined and contains three open reading frames (ORFs) on the plus (+) (mRNA) strand. The predicted amino acid sequence of ORF3 has motifs characteristic of viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerases. ORF2, which may encode the major viral coat protein, overlaps ORF3 by 71 nucleotides, suggesting a +1 translational frameshift to produce a gag-pol type of fusion protein. Two alternative models for the frameshift are presented. The 5' splice leader sequence of kinetoplastid mRNAs is not in LRV1 RNA. This suggests that the 450-base region at the 5' end of the LRV1 (+)-strand, which contains ORF1 and is highly conserved among viral strains, does not encode protein but has a role in initiation of translation and/or RNA stability. The similarity of LRV1 genomic organization, replication cycle, and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase sequence to those of the yeast virus ScV L-A suggests a common ancestral origin. The possibility that LRV1 affects pathogenesis in leishmaniasis is intriguing.

Neutralizing monoclonal antibodies against alpha and beta subunits of the Ustilago maydis virus encoded toxin

The toxins secreted by Ustilago maydis are encoded by dsRNA viruses. The KP6 toxin encoded by subtype P6 consists of two polypeptides alpha and beta, which are not covalently bound. Neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) were raised against each subunit. Some of the anti-beta MoAbs identify different epitopes in the antigen. The MoAbs were used to affinity purify alpha and beta polypeptides from culture media and to detect the precursor of the mature toxin.

Sequences of three dsRNAs associated with La France disease of the cultivated mushroom (Agaricus bisporus)

La France disease of the cultivated mushroom, Agaricus bisporus, is known to be associated with the presence of a number of dsRNA segments. The nucleotide sequences of the dsRNAs M2 (1.3 kb), M1 (1.55 kb) and L3 (2.8 kb), invariably associated with the disease, were determined. Putative coding sequences for proteins with molecular weights of 38, 40 and 87 kDa were found for M2, M1 and L3 dsRNAs, respectively. The average G + C content of these dsRNAs was 43%, close to that of A. bisporus nuclear DNA. The nucleotide sequences, as well as the amino acid sequences, appear to be unique, as no matching sequences could be found among databases. S3 dsRNA (0.39 kb), which is occasionally found in large amounts in diseased mushrooms, is an internally deleted variant of M2 dsRNA and is largely composed of the non-coding ends of that dsRNA.

Mutational analysis of the functional domains of yeast K1 killer toxin

To determine the functional domains of K1 killer toxin, we analyzed the phenotypes of a set of mutations throughout regions encoding the alpha- and beta-toxin subunits that allow secretion of mutant toxins. A range of techniques have been used to examine the ability of mutant toxins to bind to beta-glucan cell wall receptor and to form lethal ion channels. Our results indicate that both the alpha and beta subunits are involved in beta-glucan receptor binding. Defects in ion channel formation and toxin immunity are confined to the hydrophobic alpha subunit of the toxin.

Mutational analysis of the functional domains of yeast K1 killer toxin

To determine the functional domains of K1 killer toxin, we analyzed the phenotypes of a set of mutations throughout regions encoding the alpha- and beta-toxin subunits that allow secretion of mutant toxins. A range of techniques have been used to examine the ability of mutant toxins to bind to beta-glucan cell wall receptor and to form lethal ion channels. Our results indicate that both the alpha and beta subunits are involved in beta-glucan receptor binding. Defects in ion channel formation and toxin immunity are confined to the hydrophobic alpha subunit of the toxin.