The Conserved VPS-50 Protein Functions in Dense-Core Vesicle Maturation and Acidification and Controls Animal Behavior.

The modification of behavior in response to experience is crucial for animals to adapt to environmental changes. Although factors such as neuropeptides and hormones are known to function in the switch between alternative behavioral states, the mechanisms by which these factors transduce, store, retrieve, and integrate environmental signals to regulate behavior are poorly understood. The rate of locomotion of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans depends on both current and past food availability. Specifically, C. elegans slows its locomotion when it encounters food, and animals in a food-deprived state slow even more than animals in a well-fed state. The slowing responses of well-fed and food-deprived animals in the presence of food represent distinct behavioral states, as they are controlled by different sets of genes, neurotransmitters, and neurons. Here we describe an evolutionarily conserved C. elegans protein, VPS-50, that is required for animals to assume the well-fed behavioral state. Both VPS-50 and its murine homolog mVPS50 are expressed in neurons, are associated with synaptic and dense-core vesicles, and control vesicle acidification and hence synaptic function, likely through regulation of the assembly of the V-ATPase complex. We propose that dense-core vesicle acidification controlled by the evolutionarily conserved protein VPS-50/mVPS50 affects behavioral state by modulating neuropeptide levels and presynaptic neuronal function in both C. elegans and mammals.

Increasing anaerobic acetate consumption and ethanol yields in Saccharomyces cerevisiae with NADPH-specific alcohol dehydrogenase.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae has recently been engineered to use acetate, a primary inhibitor in lignocellulosic hydrolysates, as a cosubstrate during anaerobic ethanolic fermentation. However, the original metabolic pathway devised to convert acetate to ethanol uses NADH-specific acetylating acetaldehyde dehydrogenase and alcohol dehydrogenase and quickly becomes constrained by limited NADH availability, even when glycerol formation is abolished. We present alcohol dehydrogenase as a novel target for anaerobic redox engineering of S. cerevisiae. Introduction of an NADPH-specific alcohol dehydrogenase (NADPH-ADH) not only reduces the NADH demand of the acetate-to-ethanol pathway but also allows the cell to effectively exchange NADPH for NADH during sugar fermentation. Unlike NADH, NADPH can be freely generated under anoxic conditions, via the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway. We show that an industrial bioethanol strain engineered with the original pathway (expressing acetylating acetaldehyde dehydrogenase from Bifidobacterium adolescentis and with deletions of glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase genes GPD1 and GPD2) consumed 1.9 g liter(-1) acetate during fermentation of 114 g liter(-1) glucose. Combined with a decrease in glycerol production from 4.0 to 0.1 g liter(-1), this increased the ethanol yield by 4% over that for the wild type. We provide evidence that acetate consumption in this strain is indeed limited by NADH availability. By introducing an NADPH-ADH from Entamoeba histolytica and with overexpression of ACS2 and ZWF1, we increased acetate consumption to 5.3 g liter(-1) and raised the ethanol yield to 7% above the wild-type level.

Genome Sequences of Industrially Relevant Saccharomyces cerevisiae Strain M3707, Isolated from a Sample of Distillers Yeast and Four Haploid Derivatives.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain M3707 was isolated from a sample of commercial distillers yeast, and its genome sequence together with the genome sequences for the four derived haploid strains M3836, M3837, M3838, and M3839 has been determined. Yeasts have potential for consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) for biofuel production, and access to these genome sequences will facilitate their development.

High level secretion of cellobiohydrolases by Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

BACKGROUND: The main technological impediment to widespread utilization of lignocellulose for the production of fuels and chemicals is the lack of low-cost technologies to overcome its recalcitrance. Organisms that hydrolyze lignocellulose and produce a valuable product such as ethanol at a high rate and titer could significantly reduce the costs of biomass conversion technologies, and will allow separate conversion steps to be combined in a consolidated bioprocess (CBP). Development of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for CBP requires the high level secretion of cellulases, particularly cellobiohydrolases. RESULTS: We expressed various cellobiohydrolases to identify enzymes that were efficiently secreted by S. cerevisiae. For enhanced cellulose hydrolysis, we engineered bimodular derivatives of a well secreted enzyme that naturally lacks the carbohydrate-binding module, and constructed strains expressing combinations of cbh1 and cbh2 genes. Though there was significant variability in the enzyme levels produced, up to approximately 0.3 g/L CBH1 and approximately 1 g/L CBH2 could be produced in high cell density fermentations. Furthermore, we could show activation of the unfolded protein response as a result of cellobiohydrolase production. Finally, we report fermentation of microcrystalline cellulose (Avicel™) to ethanol by CBH-producing S. cerevisiae strains with the addition of beta-glucosidase. CONCLUSIONS: Gene or protein specific features and compatibility with the host are important for efficient cellobiohydrolase secretion in yeast. The present work demonstrated that production of both CBH1 and CBH2 could be improved to levels where the barrier to CBH sufficiency in the hydrolysis of cellulose was overcome.

Genetic and molecular characterization of a cryptochrome from the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa.

In plants and animals, cryptochromes function as either photoreceptors or circadian clock components. We have examined the cryptochrome from the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa and demonstrate that Neurospora cry encodes a DASH-type cryptochrome that appears capable of binding flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) and methenyltetrahydrofolate (MTHF). The cry transcript and CRY protein levels are strongly induced by blue light in a wc-1-dependent manner, and cry transcript is circadianly regulated, with a peak abundance opposite in phase to frq. Neither deletion nor overexpression of cry appears to perturb the free-running circadian clock. However, cry disruption knockout mutants show a small phase delay under circadian entrainment. Using electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA), we show that CRY is capable of binding single- and double-stranded DNA (ssDNA and dsDNA, respectively) and ssRNA and dsRNA. Whole-genome microarray experiments failed to identify substantive transcriptional regulatory activity of cry under our laboratory conditions.

The band mutation in Neurospora crassa is a dominant allele of ras-1 implicating RAS signaling in circadian output.

band, an allele enabling clear visualization of circadianly regulated spore formation (conidial banding), has remained an integral tool in the study of circadian rhythms for 40 years. bd was mapped using single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), cloned, and determined to be a T79I point mutation in ras-1. Alterations in light-regulated gene expression in the ras-1(bd) mutant suggests that the Neurospora photoreceptor WHITE COLLAR-1 is a target of RAS signaling, and increases in transcription of both wc-1 and fluffy show that regulators of conidiation are elevated in ras-1(bd). Comparison of ras-1(bd) with dominant active and dominant-negative ras-1 mutants and biochemical assays of RAS function indicate that RAS-1(bd) displays a modest enhancement of GDP/GTP exchange and no change in GTPase activity. Because the circadian clock in ras-1(bd) appears to be normal, ras-1(bd) apparently acts to amplify a subtle endogenous clock output signal under standard assay conditions. Reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can affect and be affected by RAS signaling, increase conidiation, suggesting a link between generation of ROS and RAS-1 signaling; surprisingly, however, ROS levels are not elevated in ras-1(bd). The data suggest that interconnected RAS- and ROS-responsive signaling pathways regulate the amplitude of circadian- and light-regulated gene expression in Neurospora.

Genetic and molecular analysis of phytochromes from the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa.

Phytochromes (Phys) comprise a superfamily of red-/far-red-light-sensing proteins. Whereas higher-plant Phys that control numerous growth and developmental processes have been well described, the biochemical characteristics and functions of the microbial forms are largely unknown. Here, we describe analyses of the expression, regulation, and activities of two Phys in the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa. In addition to containing the signature N-terminal domain predicted to covalently associate with a bilin chromophore, PHY-1 and PHY-2 contain C-terminal histidine kinase and response regulator motifs, implying that they function as hybrid two-component sensor kinases activated by light. A bacterially expressed N-terminal fragment of PHY-2 covalently bound either biliverdin or phycocyanobilin in vitro, with the resulting holoprotein displaying red-/far-red-light photochromic absorption spectra and a photocycle in vitro. cDNA analysis of phy-1 and phy-2 revealed two splice isoforms for each gene. The levels of the phy transcripts are not regulated by light, but the abundance of the phy-1 mRNAs is under the control of the circadian clock. Phosphorylated and unphosphorylated forms of PHY-1 were detected; both species were found exclusively in the cytoplasm, with their relative abundances unaffected by light. Strains containing deletions of phy-1 and phy-2, either singly or in tandem, were not compromised in any known photoresponses in Neurospora, leaving their function(s) unclear.

Rhythmic binding of a WHITE COLLAR-containing complex to the frequency promoter is inhibited by FREQUENCY.

The biological clock of Neurospora crassa includes interconnected transcriptional and translational feedback loops that cause both the transcript and protein encoded by the frequency gene (frq) to undergo the robust daily oscillations in abundance, which are essential for clock function. To understand better the mechanism generating rhythmic frq transcript, reporter constructs were used to show that the oscillation in frq message is transcriptionally regulated, and a single cis-acting element in the frq promoter, the Clock Box (C box), is both necessary and sufficient for this rhythmic transcription. Nuclear protein extracts used in binding assays revealed that a White Collar (WC)-1- and WC-2-containing complex (WCC) binds to the C box in a time-of-day-specific manner. Overexpression of an ectopic copy of FRQ or addition of in vitro-generated FRQ resulted in reduced WCC binding to the C box. These data suggest that oscillations in frq transcript result from WCC binding to the frq promoter and activating transcription with subsequent changes in FRQ levels having an inverse effect on WCC binding. In this way rhythmic expression and turnover of FRQ drives the rhythm in its own transcription.

The molecular workings of the Neurospora biological clock.

In Neurosporacrassa the FRQ/WC feedback loop has been shown to be central to the function of the circadian clock. Similar to other eukaryotic systems it is based on a transcription-translation PAS heterodimer type feedback. FRQ levels cycle with a period identical to that of the Neurospora circadian cycle and its expression is rapidly induced by light. A complex of White Collar 1 (WC-1) and White Collar 2 (WC-2) (the WCC) is required for the transcriptional activation of frq. The oscillation in frq message is transcriptionally regulated via a single necessary and sufficient cis-acting element in the frq promoter, the Clock-Box (CB) bound by WCC. Light-induction of frq transcription is mediated by WCC binding to two cis-acting elements (LREs) in the frq promoter. WC-1, with flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) as a cofactor, is the blue-light photoreceptor. The original description of a frq-null strain, frq9, (Loros et al 1986) included a description of oscillations in asexual conidial banding that occasionally appeared following 3 to 7 days of arrhythmic development now referred to as FLO for FRQ-less oscillator. Unlike the intact clock, FLO period is sensitive to media composition. We have identified a circadianly regulated gene whose mutation interferes with FLO even under temperature entrainment conditions. This same mutation affects the circadian clock in a frq+ background causing a shorter period length as well as temperature response defects. This gene may be an entry point to study the connection between the biological clock and other basic cellular mechanisms.

White Collar-1, a circadian blue light photoreceptor, binding to the frequency promoter.

In the fungus Neurospora crassa, the blue light photoreceptor(s) and signaling pathway(s) have not been identified. We examined light signaling by exploiting the light sensitivity of the Neurospora biological clock, specifically the rapid induction by light of the clock component frequency (frq). Light induction of frq is transcriptionally controlled and requires two cis-acting elements (LREs) in the frq promoter. Both LREs are bound by a White Collar-1 (WC-1)/White Collar-2 (WC-2)-containing complex (WCC), and light causes decreased mobility of the WCC bound to the LREs. The use of in vitro-translated WC-1 and WC-2 confirmed that WC-1, with flavin adenine dinucleotide as a cofactor, is the blue light photoreceptor that mediates light input to the circadian system through direct binding (with WC-2) to the frq promoter.