Mutations and environmental factors affecting regulation of riboflavin synthesis and iron assimilation also cause oxidative stress in the yeast Pichia guilliermondii.

Iron deficiency causes oversynthesis of riboflavin in several yeast species, known as flavinogenic yeasts. However, the mechanisms of such regulation are not known. We found that mutations causing riboflavin overproduction and iron hyperaccumulation (rib80, rib81 and hit1), as well as cobalt excess or iron deficiency all provoke oxidative stress in the Pichia guilliermondii yeast. Iron content in the cells, production both of riboflavin and malondialdehyde by P. guilliermondii wild type and hit1 mutant strains depend on a type of carbon source used in cultivation media. The data suggest that the regulation of riboflavin biosynthesis and iron assimilation in P. guilliermondii are linked with cellular oxidative state.

Development of a transformation system for gene knock-out in the flavinogenic yeast Pichia guilliermondii.

Pichia guilliermondii is a representative of a yeast species, all of which over-synthesize riboflavin in response to iron deprivation. Molecular genetic studies in this yeast species have been hampered by a lack of strain-specific tools for gene manipulation. Stable P. guilliermondii ura3 mutants were selected on the basis of 5'-fluoroorotic acid resistance. Plasmid carrying Saccharomyces cerevisiae URA3 gene transformed the mutant strains to prototrophy with a low efficiency. Substitution of a single leucine codon CUG by another leucine codon CUC in the URA3 gene increased the efficiency of transformation 100 fold. Deletion cassettes for the RIB1 and RIB7 genes, coding for GTP cyclohydrolase and riboflavin synthase, respectively, were constructed using the modified URA3 gene and subsequently introduced into a P. guilliermondii ura3 strain. Site-specific integrants were identified by selection for the Rib(-) Ura(+) phenotype and confirmed by PCR analysis. Transformation of the P. guilliermondii ura3 strain was performed using electroporation, spheroplasting or lithium acetate treatment. Only the lithium acetate transformation procedure provided selection of uracil prototrophic, riboflavin deficient recombinant strains. Depending on the type of cassette, efficiency of site-specific integration was 0.1% and 3-12% in the case of the RIB1 and RIB7 genes, respectively. We suggest that the presence of the ARS element adjacent to the 3' end of the RIB1 gene significantly reduced the frequency of homologous recombination. Efficient gene deletion in P. guilliermondii can be achieved using the modified URA3 gene of S. cerevisiae flanked by 0.8-0.9 kb sequences homologous to the target gene.