Stress Resistance of <em>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</em> Strains Overexpressing Yeast Polyphosphatases

Abstract

Inorganic polyphosphate (polyP) is an important factor in the stress resistance of microorganisms. The polyphosphate-overexpressing strains of yeast S. cerevisiae were used as a model for studying the inter-relationship between stress resistance and polyP level. We compared the polyP level and resistance to the oxidative, manganese, cadmium, and alkaline stresses in parent stain CRN and in strains overexpressing the four yeast polyphosphatases: Ppx1, Ppn1, Ppn2, and Ddp1. Strains overexpressing Ppx1, Ppn1, and Ppn2 have lower polyP content and the strain overexpressing Ddp1 has the same polyP content as the parent strain. The strains overexpressing Ppn1 and Ddp1 show higher resistance to peroxide and manganese. The strain overexpressing Ppx1 showed a decrease in peroxide resistance. The strain overexpressing Ppn2 was more resistant to alkaline and peroxide stresses. A similar increase in resistance to the manganese and peroxide stresses of strains overexpressing Ppn1 and Ddp1, which differ in polyP content, led to the conclusion that there is no direct relationship between polyP content and variations in this resistance. Thus, we speculate about the potential role of inositol pyrophosphates as signaling molecules in stress response.

Keywords

• polyphosphate
• polyphosphatase
• yeast
• oxidative stress
• manganese stress
• alkali stress