Thieme, N. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2019

Broad substrate-specific phosphorylation events are associated with the initial stage of plant cell wall recognition in Neurospora crassa

Fungal plant cell wall degradation processes are governed by complex regulatory mechanisms, allowing the organisms to adapt their metabolic program with high specificity to the available substrates. While the uptake of representative plant cell wall mono- and disaccharides is known to induce specific transcriptional and translational responses, the processes related to early signal reception and transduction remain largely unkown. A fast and reversible way of signal transmission are post-translational protein modifications, such as phosphorylations, which could initiate rapid adaptations of the fungal metabolism to a new condition. To elucidate how changes in the initial substrate recognition phase of Neurospora crassa affect the global phosphorylation pattern, phospho-proteomics was performed after a short (2 minutes) induction period with several plant cell wall-related mono- and disaccharides. The MS/MS-based peptide analysis revealed large-scale substrate-specific protein phosphorylation and de-phosphorylations. Using the proteins identified by MS/MS, a protein-protein-interaction (PPI) network was constructed. The variance in phosphorylation of a large number of kinases, phosphatases and transcription factors indicate the participation of many known signaling pathways, including circadian responses, two-component regulatory systems, MAP kinases as well as the cAMP-dependent and heterotrimeric G-protein pathways. Adenylate cyclase, a key component of the cAMP pathway, was identified as a potential hub for carbon source-specific differential protein interactions. In addition, four phosphorylated F-Box proteins were identified, two of which, Fbx-19 and Fbx-22, were found to be involved in carbon catabolite repression responses. Overall, these results provide unprecedented and detailed insights into a so far less well known stage of the fungal response to environmental cues and allow to better elucidate the molecular mechanisms of sensory perception and signal transduction during plant cell wall degradation.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2019

Genome-wide and enzymatic analysis reveals efficient D-galacturonic acid metabolism in the basidiomycete yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides

Biorefining of renewable feedstocks is one of the most promising routes to replace fossil-based products. Since many common fermentation hosts, such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, are naturally unable to convert many component plant cell wall polysaccharides, the identification of organisms with broad catabolism capabilities represents an opportunity to expand the range of substrates used in fermentation biorefinery approaches. The red basidiomycete yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides is a promising and robust host for lipid and terpene derived chemicals. Previous studies demonstrated assimilation of a range of substrates, from C5/C6-sugars to aromatic molecules similar to lignin monomers. In the current study, we analyzed R. toruloides potential to assimilate D-galacturonic acid, a major sugar in many pectin-rich agricultural waste streams, including sugar beet pulp and citrus peels. D-galacturonic acid is not a preferred substrate for many fungi, but its metabolism was found to be on par with D-glucose and D-xylose in R. toruloides. A genome-wide analysis by combined RNAseq/RB-TDNAseq revealed those genes with high relevance for fitness on D-galacturonic acid. While R. toruloides was found to utilize the same non-phosphorylative catabolic pathway known from ascomycetes, the maximal velocities of several enzymes exceeded those previously reported. In addition, an efficient downstream glycerol catabolism and a novel transcription factor were found to be important for D-galacturonic acid utilization. These results set the basis for use of R. toruloides as a potential host for pectin-rich waste conversions and demonstrate its suitability as a model for metabolic studies in basidiomycetes.\n\nImportanceThe switch from the traditional fossil-based industry to a green and sustainable bio-economy demands the complete utilization of renewable feedstocks. Many currently used bio-conversion hosts are unable to utilize major components of plant biomass, warranting the identification of microorganisms with broader catabolic capacity and characterization of their unique biochemical pathways. D-galacturonic acid is a plant component of bio-conversion interest and is the major backbone sugar of pectin, a plant cell wall polysaccharide abundant in soft and young plant tissues. The red basidiomycete and oleaginous yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides has been previously shown to utilize a range of sugars and aromatic molecules. Using state-of-the-art functional genomic methods, physiological and biochemical assays, we elucidated the molecular basis underlying the efficient metabolism of D-galacturonic acid. This study identifies an efficient pathway for uronic acid conversion to guide future engineering efforts, and represents the first detailed metabolic analysis of pectin metabolism in a basidiomycete fungus.

systems biology↗