Dataset Information

The Species-Specific Acquisition and Diversification of a K1-like Family of Killer Toxins in Budding Yeasts of the Saccharomycotina.

ABSTRACT: Killer toxins are extracellular antifungal proteins that are produced by a wide variety of fungi, including Saccharomyces yeasts. Although many Saccharomyces killer toxins have been previously identified, their evolutionary origins remain uncertain given that many of these genes have been mobilized by double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) viruses. A survey of yeasts from the Saccharomyces genus has identified a novel killer toxin with a unique spectrum of activity produced by Saccharomyces paradoxus. The expression of this killer toxin is associated with the presence of a dsRNA totivirus and a satellite dsRNA. Genetic sequencing of the satellite dsRNA confirmed that it encodes a killer toxin with homology to the canonical ionophoric K1 toxin from Saccharomyces cerevisiae and has been named K1-like (K1L). Genomic homologs of K1L were identified in six non-Saccharomyces yeast species of the Saccharomycotina subphylum, predominantly in subtelomeric regions of the genome. When ectopically expressed in S. cerevisiae from cloned cDNAs, both K1L and its homologs can inhibit the growth of competing yeast species, confirming the discovery of a family of biologically active K1-like killer toxins. The sporadic distribution of these genes supports their acquisition by horizontal gene transfer followed by diversification. The phylogenetic relationship between K1L and its genomic homologs suggests a common ancestry and gene flow via dsRNAs and DNAs across taxonomic divisions. This appears to enable the acquisition of a diverse arsenal of killer toxins by different yeast species for potential use in niche competition.

SUBMITTER: Fredericks LR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7888664 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

The Species-Specific Acquisition and Diversification of a K1-like Family of Killer Toxins in Budding Yeasts of the Saccharomycotina.

Fredericks Lance R LR Lee Mark D MD Crabtree Angela M AM Boyer Josephine M JM Kizer Emily A EA Taggart Nathan T NT Roslund Cooper R CR Hunter Samuel S SS Kennedy Courtney B CB Willmore Cody G CG Tebbe Nova M NM Harris Jade S JS Brocke Sarah N SN Rowley Paul A PA

PLoS genetics 20210204 2

Killer toxins are extracellular antifungal proteins that are produced by a wide variety of fungi, including Saccharomyces yeasts. Although many Saccharomyces killer toxins have been previously identified, their evolutionary origins remain uncertain given that many of these genes have been mobilized by double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) viruses. A survey of yeasts from the Saccharomyces genus has identified a novel killer toxin with a unique spectrum of activity produced by Saccharomyces paradoxus. The ...[more]

PMID: 33539346

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Project description:Biotin, an important cofactor for carboxylases, is essential for all kingdoms of life. Since native biotin synthesis does not always suffice for fast growth and product formation, microbial cultivation in research and industry often requires supplementation of biotin. De novo biotin biosynthesis in yeasts is not fully understood, which hinders attempts to optimize the pathway in these industrially relevant microorganisms. Previous work based on laboratory evolution of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for biotin prototrophy identified Bio1, whose catalytic function remains unresolved, as a bottleneck in biotin synthesis. This study aimed at eliminating this bottleneck in the S. cerevisiae laboratory strain CEN.PK113-7D. A screening of 35 Saccharomycotina yeasts identified six species that grew fast without biotin supplementation. Overexpression of the S. cerevisiaeBIO1 (ScBIO1) ortholog isolated from one of these biotin prototrophs, Cyberlindnera fabianii, enabled fast growth of strain CEN.PK113-7D in biotin-free medium. Similar results were obtained by single overexpression of C. fabianii BIO1 (CfBIO1) in other laboratory and industrial S. cerevisiae strains. However, biotin prototrophy was restricted to aerobic conditions, probably reflecting the involvement of oxygen in the reaction catalyzed by the putative oxidoreductase CfBio1. In aerobic cultures on biotin-free medium, S. cerevisiae strains expressing CfBio1 showed a decreased susceptibility to contamination by biotin-auxotrophic S. cerevisiae This study illustrates how the vast Saccharomycotina genomic resources may be used to improve physiological characteristics of industrially relevant S. cerevisiaeIMPORTANCE The reported metabolic engineering strategy to enable optimal growth in the absence of biotin is of direct relevance for large-scale industrial applications of S. cerevisiae Important benefits of biotin prototrophy include cost reduction during the preparation of chemically defined industrial growth media as well as a lower susceptibility of biotin-prototrophic strains to contamination by auxotrophic microorganisms. The observed oxygen dependency of biotin synthesis by the engineered strains is relevant for further studies on the elucidation of fungal biotin biosynthesis pathways.

Dataset Information

The Species-Specific Acquisition and Diversification of a K1-like Family of Killer Toxins in Budding Yeasts of the Saccharomycotina.

Publications

The Species-Specific Acquisition and Diversification of a K1-like Family of Killer Toxins in Budding Yeasts of the Saccharomycotina.

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