The inhibition of K + and phosphate uptake in yeast by cycloheximide

Fixed metabolic costs for highly variable rates of protein synthesis in sea urchin embryos and larvae

Defining the physiological mechanisms that set metabolic rates and the`cost of living' is important for understanding the energy costs of development. Embryos and larvae of the sea urchin Lytechinus pictus(Verrill) were used to test hypotheses regarding differential costs of protein synthesis in animals differing in size, rates of protein synthesis, and physiological feeding states. For embryos, the rate of protein synthesis was 0.22±0.014 ng protein embryo-1 h-1 (mean ±s.e.m.) and decreased in unfed larvae to an average rate of 0.05±0.001 ng protein larva-1 h-1. Fed larvae had rates of synthesis that were up to 194 times faster than unfed larvae (9.7±0.81 ng protein larva-1 h-1). There was no significant difference, however, in the cost of protein synthesis between these larvae with very different physiological states. Furthermore, the cost of synthesis in the larval stages was also similar to costs measured for blastula and gastrula embryos of 8.4±0.99 J mg-1 protein synthesized. The cost of protein synthesis was obtained using both direct (`inhibitor') and indirect (`correlative') measurements; both methods gave essentially identical results. Protein synthesis accounted for up to 54±8% of metabolic rate in embryos. Percent of metabolism accounted for by protein synthesis in larvae was dependent on their physiological feeding state, with protein synthesis accounting for 16±4% in unfed larvae and 75±11% in fed larvae. This regulation of metabolic rate was due to differential rates of synthesis for a fixed energy cost per unit mass of protein synthesized. The cost of synthesizing a unit of protein did not change with increasing rates of protein synthesis. We conclude that the cost of protein synthesis is independent of the rate of synthesis, developmental stage, size and physiological feeding state during sea urchin development.

The protein synthesis machinery operates at the same expense in eurythermal and cold stenothermal pectinids

Translationally active cell-free systems from gills of the Antarctic scallop Adamussium colbecki and the European scallop Aequipecten opercularis were developed, characterised, and optimised for an analysis of translational capacity. The aim was to determine the energetic cost of protein synthesis in the in vitro cell-free system by directly measuring the required energy equivalents in the lysates. Protein synthesis rate in assays conducted with lysates of A. colbecki (1.029+/-0.061 micromol Phe min(-1) at 15 degrees C; Phe=phenylalanine) were higher compared with lysates of A. opercularis (0.087+/-0.013 micromol Phe min(-1) at 15 degrees C and 0.156+/-0.023 micromol Phe min(-1) at 25 degrees C). This can in part be attributed to the naturally occurring higher RNA content in lysates of A. colbecki (0.883+/-0.037 mg RNA mL(-1) lysate) compared with A. opercularis (0.468+/-0.013 mg RNA mL(-1) lysate). There was no significant difference in the energetic costs of protein synthesis in cell-free systems of gill lysates of the cold stenothermal A. colbecki with 4.3+/-0.7 energy equivalents per peptide bond formed and the eurythermal A. opercularis with 5.6+/-0.6 energy equivalents, indicating that there are no differences in the efficiency of the translation machinery. The energetic costs specified for protein synthesis correspond with the generally accepted theoretical value of four energy equivalents per peptide bond formed, especially in gill lysates of A. colbecki, whereas the value for gill lysates of A. opercularis was slightly higher.

Turnover of the K+ transport system in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The stability of the K+ transport system in Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been studied upon inhibition of protein synthesis with cycloheximide. Addition of the antibiotic gave rise to an inactivation of this transport. This activation followed first-order kinetics and was stimulated by the presence of a fermentable substrate. A half-life of about 4 h could be calculated in the presence of glucose. The results indicate that, similarly to sugar carriers, K+ transport system is less stable than the bulk of proteins of this organism.

Energy cost of whole-body protein synthesis measured in vivo in chicks

1. Energy cost of whole-body protein synthesis was measured in vivo in chicks by comparing the changes in protein synthesis and heat production after the administration of cycloheximide, an inhibitor of protein synthesis. 2. Incorporation of phenylalanine into whole-body protein fraction was promptly inhibited after the intravenous injection of cycloheximide, and the effect was sustained for at least 3 hr. 3. Both whole-body protein synthesis and total heat production were significantly reduced by the cycloheximide administration. 4. The energy cost of whole-body protein synthesis was calculated to be 5.35 kJ per g protein synthesis, and hence on a molar basis 7.52 ATPs are required per peptide bond synthesis.

Regulation and interconversion of the potassium transport systems of Saccharomyces cerevisiae as revealed by rubidium transport

The kinetics of Rb+ transport in Saccharomyces cerevisiae depended on the K+ content of the cells and on K+ starvation, as follows. In cells with normal K+ (grown at millimolar K+), Rb+ transport was regulated by internal K+. The loss of K+ first decreased the Km and later increased the Vmax of Rb+ transport. K+ starvation of normal-K+ cells for 4-5 h decreased the Km of Rb+ transport below the minimum observed after K+ loss. During this time Eadie-Hofstee plots of Rb+ transport suggest that the existing system was converted into a new one with a higher affinity. Growth at 10 microM K+ only required the system triggered by K+ loss, and the system expressed in K+-starved cells was not expressed under these conditions.

Derepression of the high-affinity phosphate uptake in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Phosphate starvation derepresses a high-affinity phosphate uptake system in Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain A294, while in the same time the low-affinity phosphate uptake system disappears. The protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide prevents the derepression, but has no effect as soon as the high-affinity system is fully derepressed. Two other protein synthesis inhibitors, lomofungin and 8-hydroxyquinoline, were found to interfere also with the low-affinity system and with Rb+ uptake. After incubation of the yeast cells in the presence of phosphate the high-affinity system is not derepressed, but the Vmax of the low-affinity system has decreased from about 35%. Phosphate supplement after derepression causes the high-affinity system to disappear to a certain extent while in the meantime the low-affinity system reappears. The results are compared with those found in the yeast Candida tropicalis for phosphate uptake.

Muliple sites of action of cycloheximide in addition to inhibition of protein synthesis in Physarum polycephalum

The specificity action of cycloheximide was tested using a cycloheximide resistant mutant of Physarum polycephalum. This resistance has previously been shown to reside with the ribosomes, making cytoplasmic protein synthesis refractile to the action of the drug. We show here that cycloheximide in the mutant strain causes specific alterations in metabolism without influencing the growth rate. These are: 1. lowered specific activity of glutamate dehydrogenase during starvation, 2. alteration of the molecular weight of glutamate dehydrogenase, 3. inhibition of uptake of amino acids from the medium into the internal pools. Possible explanations for these effects of cycloheximide outside of protein synthesis per se are considered. We conclude that cycloheximide may not be considered a specific inhibitor of protein synthesis, and that a causal relationship between protein synthesis and any biological process cannot be claimed unless such specificity is demonstrated in each case, preferably by use of mutants.

Polyphosphate levels in nongrowing cells of Saccharomyces mellis as determined by magnesium ion and the phenomenon of "Uberkompensation"

Magnesium ion enhances the maximum amount of polyphosphate that resting phosphate-starved cells of Saccharomyces mellis can store by increasing the length of time the cells will continue assimilating phosphate. The divalent cation has no effect on the rate of formation of polymer. As much as 12 times more polyphosphate is formed in cells incubated in reaction mixtures containing 0.3 M MgCl2 than in the absence of Mg2+. Potassium ion also has an influence on the amount of polyphosphate that phosphate-starved cells can accumulate but the degree of stimulation is not very large. Mg2+ and K+ have no effect on polyphosphate formation or storage in phosphate-satiated cells. Apparently, then, there are two systems for polyphosphate accumulation in S. mellis. Each system is stable in nondividing cells. The one present in phosphate-starved cells seems to be repressible by growth of the organism in media containing orthophosphate. The shift from the derepressed state to the repressed state, or vice versa, occurs only in exponentially dividing cells in appropriate media with 100% of the cells in the new physiological state by the time the cell mass has doubled. It is suggested that the word to describe the phenomenon of the accumulation of higher amounts of polyphosphate in phosphate-starved cells than the steady-state level of phosphate-satiated cells be changed from "uberkompensation" to "magnesium ubertriebung," or "magnesium enhancement."

Effect of cycloheximide on L-leucine transport by Penicillium chrysogenum: involvement of calcium

Cycloheximide (actidione) has an immediate inhibitory effect on amino acid transport by nitrogen-starved or carbon-starved mycelium suspended in phosphate buffer. High concentrations of phosphate alone are slightly inhibitory; cycloheximide appears to potentiate the effect of phosphate. Ca(2+) reverses the inhibition of transport caused by phosphate plus cycloheximide. Ca(2+) did not relieve the inhibition of protein synthesis. Cycloheximide promotes a continual uptake of (45)Ca(2+) by the mycelium. The cumulative results suggest that (i) membrane-bound Ca(2+) is involved in amino acid transport, (ii) cycloheximide labilizes the membrane-bound Ca(2+), and (iii) phosphate forms a complex with Ca(2+) making it unavailable for its role in transport. The effect of cycloheximide described above is observed within 1 to 2 min after addition of the antibiotic. This initial inhibition occurs more rapidly with 10(-3) M cycloheximide than with 10(-5) M cycloheximide. However, after a longer preincubation time, a curious inverse relationship between cycloheximide concentration and amino acid transport is observed. The mycelium incubated with 10(-5) M cycloheximide remains strongly inhibited (unless the antibiotic is washed away). The mycelium incubated with 10(-3) M cycloheximide recovers about 40% of the transport activity lost during the rapid initial phase. We have no obvious explanation for the inverse effect.

[Experiments and hypothesis concerning the primary action of auxin in elongation growth]

1. Sections of auxin-starved hypocotyls of Helianthus annuus do not show any significant growth rate in water of buffers of pH\>-6. However, in buffers with pH-values of approximately 4, elongation growth is observed; its rate is similar to the rate of auxin-stimulated growth (after 6 h incubation). \3- This phenomenon of acid-induced growth occurs also under anaerobic conditions in contrast to auxin-induced growth (Hager 1962). 2. Intact cell wall aggregates of Helianthus hypocotyls were obtained by complete plasmolysis of hypocotyls in 50% glycerol; cell wall associated enzymes were still active after this treatment, at least in part. While cell walls in solutions of pH\>-6 show only a small plastic extension during the first minute in response to a 50 g stretching force, a constant rate of elongation over longer periods of time (measured up to 1 h) is observed in weakly acid buffers. The highest rate of elongation is observed at about pH 4. This acid-induced plastic extension is completely inhibited by Cu(2+)-ions (5mM); the elongation of cell walls is apparently the consequence of an enzyme-catalysed increase in plasticity having a pH optimum of about 4. The pH optimum of acid-induced cell wall extension observed during stretching of plasmolysed hypocotyls coincides with the pH optimum of acid-induced growth of intact hypocotyl sections (around pH 4). 3. Under anaerobic conditions the growth rate of intact coleoptiles stays unchanged (at a low value) if the sections are incubated in a buffer of pH 5.0. Higher proton concentrations, however, stimulate growth immediately, whereas low proton concentrations are inhibitory (Fig. 7 and 8). The strongest initial growth response is elicited by buffers or acids of pH 3.9 (Fig. 9). Acid-induced growth of coleoptiles with a similar pH optimum is also found under anaerobic conditions. The growth of coleoptile cylinders can be switched on or off by repeatedly changing to acid or basic medium, respectively (under conditions of anaerobiosis) (Fig. 10). IAA-induced growth (aerobic conditions, pH≥5) can also be inhibited immediately by basic buffers or NaOH-solutions, and resumes after the pH value is lowered (Fig. 11). This pH-dependency may be taken as an indication that auxin affects the same reaction which is stimulated by high proton concentrations and which may be the last step in the process of cell elongation. CCCP, known to make membranes permeable for protons, rapidly inhibits the auxin-induced elongation growth (pH 6,5) when applied at a concentration which does not influence respiration; removal of CCCP shows that the growth inhibition by CCCp is partly reversible (Fig. 12). In contrast, acid-induced elongation growth (pH 4) shows inhibition by CCCP not before 10 min after application.-These findings suggest that auxin induces a proton accumulation in a cell wall compartment and, as a consequence, enzymatic cell wall softening. Such an accumulation could be brought about by an auxin-activated, membrane-bound, anisotropic ATPase or ion pump. The notion that ATPases or pumps may be located in the outer layers of the cell membrane is supported by the observation that addition of ATP to coleoptile cylinders under anaerobic conditions results in an immediate stimulation of elongation (Fig. 14). This effect is further enhanced by Mg(2+)-and K(+)-ions (Figs. 15 and 16). Mg(2+) can be partly replaced by Ca(2+). The stimulatory effect of ATP is increased considerably if the coleoptiles are treated with IAA under aerobic conditions prior to ATP addition (Figs. 15 b and 14). ITP, GTP, UTP, and CTP induce elongation growth under anaerobiosis similarly to ATP. In the presence of ITP or GTP the increase in growth rate is maintained over a longer period of time than in the presence of the other nucleoside triphosphates (Fig. 17). IAA, which causes no elongation growth under anaerobiosis (Fig. 13) is also unable to further stimulate the elongation growth induced by ATP, UTP, or CTP under anaerobiosis (Fig. 18); however, if IAA is added after growth has been stimulated by GTP or ITP, a temporary inhibition and, 10 min later, a strong stimulation is noticed (Fig. 19). If the sequence of addition is reversed, -that is, if IAA (without growth effect) and, after 20 min, GTP or ITP are added to the coleoptiles-, the same initial inhibition and subsequent increase of the growth rate is found (Fig. 20). Thus, IAA can stimulate growth of coleoptiles even under anaerobic conditions if GTP or ITP is present at the same time. 4. The results support the following hypothesis (Fig. 21): auxin acts cooperatively with GTP (ITP) as an effector of a membrane-bound, anisotropic ATPase or proton pump. This pump, activated by auxin, utilizes respiration energy (ATP or other nucleoside triphosphates) to raise the proton concentration in a compartment at the cell wall. This event leads to an increase in the activity of enzymes softening cell walls and thus triggers cell elongation. The transport or secretion of protons into the cell wall compartment should be compensated by a flow of cations into the interior of the cytoplasm or by a flow of anions to the cell periphery, thus causing secondary auxin effects.