scholarly journals Sterol metabolism in the filasterean Capsaspora owczarzaki has features that resemble both fungi and animals

Open Biology ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. 160029 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastián R. Najle ◽  
María Celeste Molina ◽  
Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo ◽  
Antonio D. Uttaro
Keyword(s):  
Transcriptional Regulation ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Steroid Hormones ◽  
Lipid Rafts ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Signalling Pathways ◽  
Sterol Metabolism ◽  
Physiological Processes ◽  
Biochemical Analyses

Sterols are essential for several physiological processes in most eukaryotes. Sterols regulate membrane homeostasis and participate in different signalling pathways not only as precursors of steroid hormones and vitamins, but also through its role in the formation of lipid rafts. Two major types of sterols, cholesterol and ergosterol, have been described so far in the opisthokonts, the clade that comprise animals, fungi and their unicellular relatives. Cholesterol predominates in derived bilaterians, whereas ergosterol is what generally defines fungi. We here characterize, by a combination of bioinformatic and biochemical analyses, the sterol metabolism in the filasterean Capsaspora owczarzaki , a close unicellular relative of animals that is becoming a model organism. We found that C. owczarzaki sterol metabolism combines enzymatic activities that are usually considered either characteristic of fungi or exclusive to metazoans. Moreover, we observe a differential transcriptional regulation of this metabolism across its life cycle. Thus, C. owczarzaki alternates between synthesizing 7-dehydrocholesterol de novo, which happens at the cystic stage, and the partial conversion—via a novel pathway—of incorporated cholesterol into ergosterol, the characteristic fungal sterol, in the filopodial and aggregative stages.

Transcriptional regulation of de novo biosynthesis of cyanogenic glucosides throughout the life-cycle of the burnet moth Zygaena filipendulae (Lepidoptera)

2014 ◽  
Vol 49 ◽  
pp. 80-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel Fürstenberg-Hägg ◽  
Mika Zagrobelny ◽  
Carl Erik Olsen ◽  
Kirsten Jørgensen ◽  
Birger Lindberg Møller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transcriptional Regulation ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Cyanogenic Glucosides ◽  
De Novo Biosynthesis

scholarly journals Neutral and Phospholipids of the Myxococcus xanthus Lipodome during Fruiting Body Formation and Germination

2015 ◽  
Vol 81 (19) ◽  
pp. 6538-6547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tilman Ahrendt ◽  
Hendrik Wolff ◽  
Helge B. Bode
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Lipid Profile ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Membrane Lipids ◽  
Myxococcus Xanthus ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Ether Lipid ◽  
Complex Life Cycle ◽  
Fruiting Body Formation ◽  
Content Type

ABSTRACTMyxobacteria are well-known for their complex life cycle, including the formation of spore-filled fruiting bodies. The model organismMyxococcus xanthusexhibits a highly complex composition of neutral and phospholipids, including triacylglycerols (TAGs), diacylglycerols (DAGs), phosphatidylethanolamines (PEs), phosphatidylglycerols (PGs), cardiolipins (CLs), and sphingolipids, including ceramides (Cers) and ceramide phosphoinositols (Cer-PIs). In addition, ether lipids have been shown to be involved in development and signaling. In this work, we describe the lipid profile ofM. xanthusduring its entire life cycle, including spore germination. PEs, representing one of the major components of the bacterial membrane, decreased by about 85% during development from vegetative rods to round myxospores, while TAGs first accumulated up to 2-fold before they declined 48 h after the induction of sporulation. Presumably, membrane lipids are incorporated into TAG-containing lipid bodies, serving as an intermediary energy source for myxospore formation. The ceramides Cer(d-19:0/iso-17:0) and Cer(d-19:0/16:0) accumulated 6-fold and 3-fold, respectively, after 24 h of development, identifying them to be novel putative biomarkers forM. xanthussporulation. The most abundant ether lipid, 1-iso-15:0-alkyl-2,3-di-iso-15:0-acyl glycerol (TG1), exhibited a lipid profile different from that of all TAGs during sporulation, reinforcing its signaling character. The absence of all these lipid profile changes in mutants during development supports the importance of lipids in myxobacterial development. During germination of myxospores, only thede novobiosynthesis of new cell membrane fatty acids was observed. The unexpected accumulation of TAGs also during germination might indicate a function of TAGs as intermediary storage lipids during this part of the life cycle as well.

scholarly journals Metabolic reprogramming during the Trypanosoma brucei life cycle

F1000Research ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 683 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry K. Smith ◽  
Frédéric Bringaud ◽  
Derek P. Nolan ◽  
Luisa M. Figueiredo
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Trypanosoma Brucei ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Protozoan Parasite ◽  
Tsetse Fly ◽  
Metabolic Reprogramming ◽  
Mammalian Host ◽  
Insect Vector ◽  
Environmental Signals ◽  
Cellular Metabolic Activity

Cellular metabolic activity is a highly complex, dynamic, regulated process that is influenced by numerous factors, including extracellular environmental signals, nutrient availability and the physiological and developmental status of the cell. The causative agent of sleeping sickness, Trypanosoma brucei, is an exclusively extracellular protozoan parasite that encounters very different extracellular environments during its life cycle within the mammalian host and tsetse fly insect vector. In order to meet these challenges, there are significant alterations in the major energetic and metabolic pathways of these highly adaptable parasites. This review highlights some of these metabolic changes in this early divergent eukaryotic model organism.

scholarly journals In Search of Species-Specific SNPs in a Non-Model Animal (European Bison (Bison bonasus))—Comparison of De Novo and Reference-Based Integrated Pipeline of STACKS Using Genotyping-by-Sequencing (GBS) Data

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 2226
Author(s):  
Sazia Kunvar ◽  
Sylwia Czarnomska ◽  
Cino Pertoldi ◽  
Małgorzata Tokarska
Keyword(s):  
Reference Genome ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Bos Taurus ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Genotyping By Sequencing ◽  
Model Organisms ◽  
European Bison ◽  
Model Animal ◽  
Pcr Duplicates ◽  
Species Specific

The European bison is a non-model organism; thus, most of its genetic and genomic analyses have been performed using cattle-specific resources, such as BovineSNP50 BeadChip or Illumina Bovine 800 K HD Bead Chip. The problem with non-specific tools is the potential loss of evolutionary diversified information (ascertainment bias) and species-specific markers. Here, we have used a genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) approach for genotyping 256 samples from the European bison population in Bialowieza Forest (Poland) and performed an analysis using two integrated pipelines of the STACKS software: one is de novo (without reference genome) and the other is a reference pipeline (with reference genome). Moreover, we used a reference pipeline with two different genomes, i.e., Bos taurus and European bison. Genotyping by sequencing (GBS) is a useful tool for SNP genotyping in non-model organisms due to its cost effectiveness. Our results support GBS with a reference pipeline without PCR duplicates as a powerful approach for studying the population structure and genotyping data of non-model organisms. We found more polymorphic markers in the reference pipeline in comparison to the de novo pipeline. The decreased number of SNPs from the de novo pipeline could be due to the extremely low level of heterozygosity in European bison. It has been confirmed that all the de novo/Bos taurus and Bos taurus reference pipeline obtained SNPs were unique and not included in 800 K BovineHD BeadChip.

scholarly journals Glucocorticoid resistance conferring mutation in the C-terminus of GR alters the receptor conformational dynamics

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Kaziales ◽  
Florian Rührnößl ◽  
Klaus Richter
Keyword(s):  
Glucocorticoid Receptor ◽  
Steroid Hormones ◽  
In Silico ◽  
Conformational Dynamics ◽  
Glucocorticoid Resistance ◽  
Physiological Processes ◽  
C Terminus ◽  
Hsp90 Chaperone ◽  
In Silico Methods

AbstractThe glucocorticoid receptor is a key regulator of essential physiological processes, which under the control of the Hsp90 chaperone machinery, binds to steroid hormones and steroid-like molecules and in a rather complicated and elusive response, regulates a set of glucocorticoid responsive genes. We here examine a human glucocorticoid receptor variant, harboring a point mutation in the last C-terminal residues, L773P, that was associated to Primary Generalized Glucocorticoid Resistance, a condition originating from decreased affinity to hormone, impairing one or multiple aspects of GR action. Using in vitro and in silico methods, we assign the conformational consequences of this mutation to particular GR elements and report on the altered receptor properties regarding its binding to dexamethasone, a NCOA-2 coactivator-derived peptide, DNA, and importantly, its interaction with the chaperone machinery of Hsp90.

scholarly journals The Multiple Functions of Rho GTPases in Fission Yeasts

Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 1422
Author(s):  
Jero Vicente-Soler ◽  
Teresa Soto ◽  
Alejandro Franco ◽  
José Cansado ◽  
Marisa Madrid
Keyword(s):  
Fission Yeast ◽  
Rho Gtpases ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Guanine Nucleotide Exchange ◽  
Nucleotide Exchange Factors ◽  
Physiological Processes ◽  
Evolutionary Changes ◽  
Rho Family

The Rho family of GTPases represents highly conserved molecular switches involved in a plethora of physiological processes. Fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe has become a fundamental model organism to study the functions of Rho GTPases over the past few decades. In recent years, another fission yeast species, Schizosaccharomyces japonicus, has come into focus offering insight into evolutionary changes within the genus. Both fission yeasts contain only six Rho-type GTPases that are spatiotemporally controlled by multiple guanine–nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) and GTPase-activating proteins (GAPs), and whose intricate regulation in response to external cues is starting to be uncovered. In the present review, we will outline and discuss the current knowledge and recent advances on how the fission yeasts Rho family GTPases regulate essential physiological processes such as morphogenesis and polarity, cellular integrity, cytokinesis and cellular differentiation.

scholarly journals Myxococcus xanthus as a Model Organism for Peptidoglycan Assembly and Bacterial Morphogenesis

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 916
Author(s):  
Huan Zhang ◽  
Srutha Venkatesan ◽  
Beiyan Nan
Keyword(s):  
De Novo ◽  
Myxococcus Xanthus ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Negative Bacterium ◽  
Ideal Model ◽  
Daughter Cells ◽  
Bacterial Division ◽  
Cell Shapes ◽  
Rare Opportunity

A fundamental question in biology is how cell shapes are genetically encoded and enzymatically generated. Prevalent shapes among walled bacteria include spheres and rods. These shapes are chiefly determined by the peptidoglycan (PG) cell wall. Bacterial division results in two daughter cells, whose shapes are predetermined by the mother. This makes it difficult to explore the origin of cell shapes in healthy bacteria. In this review, we argue that the Gram-negative bacterium Myxococcus xanthus is an ideal model for understanding PG assembly and bacterial morphogenesis, because it forms rods and spheres at different life stages. Rod-shaped vegetative cells of M. xanthus can thoroughly degrade their PG and form spherical spores. As these spores germinate, cells rebuild their PG and reestablish rod shape without preexisting templates. Such a unique sphere-to-rod transition provides a rare opportunity to visualize de novo PG assembly and rod-like morphogenesis in a well-established model organism.

scholarly journals Lipid Acyl Chain Remodeling in Yeast

2015 ◽  
Vol 8s1 ◽  
pp. LPI.S31780 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike F. Renne ◽  
Xue Bao ◽  
Cedric H. De Smet ◽  
Anton I. P. M. De Kroon
Keyword(s):  
Intracellular Transport ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Acyl Chain ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Lipid Synthesis ◽  
Membrane Lipid ◽  
Lipid Homeostasis ◽  
Synthetic Process ◽  
Acyl Chains ◽  
Phospholipid Acyl Chain

Membrane lipid homeostasis is maintained by de novo synthesis, intracellular transport, remodeling, and degradation of lipid molecules. Glycerophospholipids, the most abundant structural component of eukaryotic membranes, are subject to acyl chain remodeling, which is defined as the post-synthetic process in which one or both acyl chains are exchanged. Here, we review studies addressing acyl chain remodeling of membrane glycerophospholipids in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a model organism that has been successfully used to investigate lipid synthesis and its regulation. Experimental evidence for the occurrence of phospholipid acyl chain exchange in cardiolipin, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylinositol, and phosphatidylethanolamine is summarized, including methods and tools that have been used for detecting remodeling. Progress in the identification of the enzymes involved is reported, and putative functions of acyl chain remodeling in yeast are discussed.

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