Preparation and composition of the protoplast membrane of Candida utilis

Shared control of maltose and trehalose utilization in Candida utilis

Trehalose biosynthesis and its hydrolysis have been extensively studied in yeast, but few reports have addressed the catabolism of exogenously supplied trehalose. Here we report the catabolism of exogenous trehalose by Candida utilis. In contrast to the biphasic growth in glucose, the growth of C. utilis in a mineral medium with trehalose as the sole carbon and energy source is aerobic and exhibits the Kluyver effect. Trehalose is transported into the cell by an inducible trehalose transporter (K M of 8 mM and V MAX of 1.8 mol trehalose min-1 mg cell (dry weight)-1. The activity of the trehalose transporter is high in cells growing in media containing trehalose or maltose and very low or absent during the growth in glucose or glycerol. Similarly, total trehalase activity was increased from about 1.0 mU/mg protein in cells growing in glucose to 39.0 and 56.2 mU/mg protein in cells growing in maltose and trehalose, respectively. Acidic and neutral trehalase activities increased during the growth in trehalose, with neutral trehalase contributing to about 70% of the total activity. In addition to the increased activities of the trehalose transporter and trehalases, growth in trehalose promoted the increase in the activity of alpha-glucosidase and the maltose transporter. These results clearly indicate that maltose and trehalose promote the increase of the enzymatic activities necessary to their catabolism but are also able to stimulate each other's catabolism, as reported to occur in Escherichia coli. We show here for the first time that trehalose induces the catabolism of maltose in yeast.

Isolation and characterization of plasma membranes from the fungus Podospora anserina

This paper describes a method for separating and isolating plasma membranes from the septated fungus Podospora anserina. Plasma membranes were isolated from protoplasts (young cell plasma membranes) and mycelia (both young and aged cell plasma membranes). The procedure of fractionation consisted of a combination of differential and isopycnic centrifugations. Characterization of cellular membranes and enrichment of the fractions with plasmalemma were carried out by assays on enzymatic activities. A plasma membrane fraction was isolated in a buoyant density peak of 1.087 g/cm3, where three enzymatic activities bound to plasma membrane, adenylate cyclase, chitin synthase, and beta-glucan synthase at low affinity for UDP-Glc, peaked together. Good purity of this fraction was determined by the absence or the very low level of other enzymatic activities used as markers for intracellular membranes, i.e., succinate dehydrogenase, alpha-mannosidase, NADPH cytochrome c reductase, and beta-glucan synthase at high affinity for UDP-Glc activities.

Amino acid uptake by Saccharomyces cerevisiae plasma membrane vesicles

A procedure is described which allows for the efficient separation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae plasma membranes from other cellular membranes by discontinuous sucrose density gradient centrifugation. After vesiculization in an osmotic stabilization buffer the plasma membrane vesicles retain the ability to transport amino acids. Amino acid uptake was affected by the proton gradient dissipator m-chlorocarbonylcyanide phenylhydrazone and was dependent, in some cases, on the presence of sodium ion.

Plasma membrane from Candida tropicalis grown on glucose or hexadecane. II. Biochemical properties and substrate-induced alterations

Isolated plasma membranes from the yeast Candida tropicalis grown on two different carbon sources (glucose or hexadecane), had similar contents of protein (60% of total dry weight), lipid (21-24%) and carbohydrates (16-21%). Sodium dodecyl sulphate gel electrophoresis of the membrane proteins revealed 17 and 19 protein bands, respectively, for glucose and hexadecane grown cells. There were marked differences in RF values and relative peak heights between the two gels. Sterols and free fatty acids were the major components of the plasma membrane lipids. Phospholipid content was less than 2% of total plasma membrane lipids. Membrane microviscosity, as determined by fluorescence polarization, was very high (16.6 P). Fatty acid determination of membrane lipids by gas chromatography showed a significant increase of C16 fatty acids in plasma membranes of cells grown on hexadecane. Reduced-oxidized difference spectra demonstrated the presence of a b-type cytochrome in both Saccharomyces cerevisiae and C. tropicalis plasma membranes. Its concentration in C. tropicalis plasma membranes was three-fold greater in cells grown on hexadecane than in glucose grown cells.

The plasma membrane of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Isolation and some properties

The isolation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae plasma membrane was carried out after hypotonic lysis of yeast protoplasts treated with concanavalin A by two independent methods: a, at low speed centrifugation and b, at high speed centrifugation in a density gradient. Several techniques (electron microscopic, enzymic, tagging, etc.) were used to ascertain the degree of purification of the plasma membranes obtained. The low speed centrifugation technique as compared with the other method gave a higher yield of plasma membranes with a similar degree of purification. Analysis of the yeast plasma membrane of normally growing cells by sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed at least 25 polypeptide bands. Twelve glycoprotein bands were also found, and their apparent molecular weights were determined. Treatment of the protoplasts with cycloheximide resulted in a significant decrease in the carbohydrate and protein content of the plasma membrane. The electrophoretic pattern of the plasma membrane of cycloheximide-treated cells showed a redistribution of the relative amounts of each protein band and a drastic reduction in the number of Schiff-positive bands. The isoelectric point of the most abundant proteins was low (pI 4) or lower than expected from previous data. A large part of the mannosyl transferase activity found in the cell (80%) was associated with the internal membranes, the remaining activity (20%) was located in the plasma membrane preparation. Part of the mannosyl transferase activity of the cells is located at the plasma membrane surface. Invertase (an external mannoprotein) is found in both the plasma and internal membranes, and as the specific activity dropped significantly following cycloheximide treatment of the cells, it is suggested that these membranes systems are the structures for the glycosylation of a precursor invertase and its subsequent release into the periplasmic space. Other transferase found in the plasma membrane preparation transfers glucose residues from UDPglucose to a poly(alpha(1 leads to 4) polymer identified as glycogen.

Localization of mannan at the surface of yeast protoplasts by scanning electron microscopy

The beta(1-3)glucanase of Basidiomycete QM 806 was used to prepare Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida utilis protoplasts. Plasma membranes isolated from S. cerevisiae contained a small amount of mannose and traces of glucose and ribose. Randomly distributed alpha-mannan was detected by scanning electron microscopy at the surface of prefixed protoplasts using colloidal gold labelled with Concanavalin A as a marker. C. utilis protoplasts were also marked with anti-mannan antibodies. Again the distribution of mannan was random. This experiment indicated also that plasma membrane mannan has the same immunochemical determinants as cell wall mannan. It is hypothesized that mannan is mainly located in the outer layer of plasma membranes.

The lipolytic activities of the isolated cell envelope fracttions of Baker's yeast

1. The existence of phospholipase and lipase activities in the isolated cell envelopes of baker's yeast was demonstrated. 2. The content of phospholipase was found to be markedly higher than that of lipase. 3. After partial enzymic digestion of the isolated cell envelopes, the bulk of the lipolytic activities was recovered in the sedimentable preparations, which consisted of the fragments of the plasma membrane. 4. During repeated washings, the lipase was completely released from the cell envelopes, as were also the bulk of the lipid components and most of the Mg(2+)-dependent adenosine triphosphatase, an enzyme connected with the plasma membrane. The phospholipase was more firmly bound to the preparation but not so firmly as the external saccharase. 5. These results indicate that the lipolytic enzymes found in the cell envelopes are mostly located in the plasma membrane.

The enzymic composition of the isolated cell wall and plasma membrane of baker's yeast

A study was made of the enzyme content of the isolated cell walls and of a plasma-membrane preparation obtained by centrifugation after enzymic digestion of the cell walls of baker's yeast. The isolated cell walls showed no hexokinase, alkaline phosphatase, esterase or NADH oxidase activity. It was concluded that these enzymes exist only in the interior of the cell. Further, only a negligible activity of deamidase was detectable in the cell walls. Noticeable amounts of saccharase, phosphatases hydrolysing p-nitrophenyl phosphate, ATP, ADP, thiamin pyrophosphate and PP(i), with optimum activity at pH3-4, and an activity of Mg(2+)-dependent adenosine triphosphatase at neutral pH, were found in the isolated cell walls. During enzymic digestion, the other activities appearing in the cell walls were mostly released into the medium, but the bulk of the Mg(2+)-dependent adenosine triphosphatase remained in the plasma-membrane preparation. Accordingly, it may be assumed that the enzymes released into the medium during digestion are located in the cell wall outside the plasma membrane, whereas the Mg(2+)-dependent adenosine triphosphatase is an enzyme of the plasma membrane. This enzyme differs from the phosphatases with pH optima in the range pH3-4 with regard to location, pH optimum, substrate specificity and different requirement of activators.

Phagocytosis of latex beads by Acahamoeba castellanii (Neff). 3. Isolation of the phagocytic vesicles and their membranes

A method is described for the rapid and efficient isolation of phagocytic vesicles from large scale cultures of Acanthamoeba castellanii (Neff) that have been incubated with polystyrene latex beads. Cells were allowed to phagocytose latex beads for 30 min and then were homogenized, and the phagocytic vesicles were isolated by one centrifugation through several layers of sucrose. Identity and purity of the phagocytic vesicles were determined by electron microscopy, chemical analyses, and assays of acid phosphatase, alpha- and beta-glucosidase, and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase. When phagocytosis was allowed to occur for longer periods the phagocytic vesicles appeared to fuse with each other and perhaps with digestive vacuoles. The resultant vesicles which contained many beads were heavier than those which consisted of only one bead or a few beads with a closely applied membrane. Ultrasonication ruptured the isolated vesicles, and the membranes could then be isolated in 30-50% yield based on phospholipid analysis. These membranes were essentially free of acid hydrolases and, presumably, other soluble proteins, as was also indicated by their low ratio of protein to phospholipid. The membranes have been prepared both as closed vesicles and as open sheets.

Composition of the protoplast membrane from Saccharomyces cerevisiae

1. Protoplasts of Saccharomyces cerevisiae N.C.Y.C. 366 were prepared by incubating washed exponential-phase cells in buffered mannitol (0.8m) containing 10mm-magnesium chloride and snail gut juice (about 8mg. of protein/ml. of reaction mixture). Protoplast membranes were obtained by bursting protoplasts in ice-cold phosphate buffer (pH7.0) containing 10mm-magnesium chloride. 2. Protoplast membranes accounted for 13-20% of the dry weight of the yeast cell. They contained on a weight basis about 39% of lipid, 49% of protein, 6% of sterol (assayed spectrophotometrically) and traces of RNA and carbohydrate (glucan+mannan). 3. The principal fatty acids in membrane lipids were C(16:0), C(16:1) and C(18:1) acids. Whole cells contained a slightly greater proportion of C(16:0) and a somewhat smaller proportion of C(18:1) acids. Membrane and whole-cell lipids included monoglycerides, diglycerides, triglycerides, sterols, sterol esters, phosphatidylcholine, lysophosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylinositol+phosphatidylserine. Phosphorus analyses on phospholipid fractions from membranes and whole cells showed that membranes contained proportionately more phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylinositol+phosphatidylserine than whole cells, which in turn were richer in phosphatidylcholine. Phospholipid fractions from membranes and whole cells had similar fatty acid compositions. 4. Membranes and whole cells contained two major and three minor sterol components. Gas-liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry and u.v. and i.r. spectra indicated that the major components were probably Delta(5,7,22,24(28))-ergostatetraen-3beta-ol and zymosterol. The minor sterol components in whole cells were probably episterol (or fecosterol), ergosterol and a C(29) di-unsaturated sterol. 5. Defatted whole cells contained slightly more glutamate and ornithine and slightly less leucine and isoleucine than membranes. Otherwise, no major differences were detected in the amino acid compositions of defatted whole cells and membranes.

Structural and immunological studies on the protoplast membrane of the yeast Candida utilis

Cell membranes of the yeast Candida utilis isolated by lysis of protoplasts have been shown to be lipoprotein in nature. Electron microscopy shows that Mg(++) is responsible for maintaining the integrity of the membrane. A close serological relationship was found between membranes and cell walls isolated from the yeast. This relationship was exhibited not only by membranes obtained by strepzyme treatment but also by those obtained from the action of helicase enzyme. No such relationship existed between membranes and whole cells. Related data have been obtained by treatment of yeasts with different digestive enzymes. All of the results suggest that the protoplast membrane possesses traces of structural cell wall material. This material is detectable by serological tests, but not by electron microscopy.