The Hansenula polymorpha PER3 gene is essential for the import of PTS1 proteins into the peroxisomal matrix.

PER genes are essential for the assembly of peroxisomes in Hansenula polymorpha. Here we describe the PER3 gene which was cloned by functional complementation of a H. polymorpha per3 mutant. The complementing PER3 gene encodes a protein of 569 amino acids (Per3p) with a calculated mass of 63.9 kDa; Per3p belongs to the tetratricopeptide repeat protein family and is located in both the cytosol and the peroxisomal matrix. Remarkably, Per3p does not contain a known targeting signal (PTS1 or PTS2). The PER3 gene product shows similarity to the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Pas10p (40% identity) and the Pichia pastoris Pas8p (55% identity). However, their function apparently cannot be interchanged since the P. pastoris PAS8 gene failed to functionally complement a H. polymorpha per3 disruption mutant. The per3 disruption mutant contained normal but small peroxisomes in which PTS2 proteins (both homologous and heterologous) were imported. Other matrix proteins (in particular PTS1 proteins) resided in the cytosol where they were normally assembled and active. We argue that Per3p is a component of the peroxisomal import machinery and most probably shuttles matrix proteins from the cytosol to the organellar matrix.

Synthesis and subcellular location of peroxisomal membrane proteins in a peroxisome-deficient mutant of the yeast Hansenula polymorpha.

We have studied the synthesis and subcellular location of peroxisomal membrane proteins (PMPs) in cells of a peroxisome-deficient (per) mutant of the methylotrophic yeast Hansenula polymorpha. Western blot analysis of methanol-induced cells of the per mutant, which had been growing in a continuous culture on a glucose/methanol mixture, indicated that various PMPs were normally synthesized. As in wild type (WT) cells, the levels of PMP synthesis appeared to be dependent on specific cultivation conditions, e.g. the carbon source used for growth. In contrast to WT controls, PMPs in methanol-induced per mutants were not subject to proteolytic degradation. Biochemical and immuno(cyto)chemical studies suggested that the PMPs in methanol-induced per cells were located in small proteinaceous aggregates, separated from peroxisomal matrix proteins that were also present in the cytosol. Vesicular membranous structures, resembling the morphology of intact peroxisomes, were never detected irrespective of the growth conditions employed.

Expression and targeting of a 47 kDa integral peroxisomal membrane protein of Candida boidinii in wild type and a peroxisome-deficient mutant of Hansenula polymorpha.

A 47 kDa integral peroxisomal membrane protein (PMP47) of Candida boidinii was expressed in wild type (WT) and a temperature-sensitive (Ts6) peroxisome-deficient (per) mutant of Hansenula polymorpha. The subcellular location of PMP47 appeared to be dependent on the level of expression. At low expression levels PMP47 was sorted to the peroxisomal membrane; however, in Ts6 cells grown at restrictive temperatures (which lack intact peroxisomes) PMP47 was solely located in small cytosolic aggregates, together with homologous H. polymorpha PMP's. At enhanced expression levels, however, part of the protein also became incorporated into mitochondria, both in transformed WT and Ts6 cells.