The novel acidophilic structure of the killer toxin from halotolerant yeast demonstrates remarkable folding similarity with a fungal killer toxin.

BACKGROUND: Several strains of yeasts and fungi produce proteinous substances, termed killer toxins, which kill sensitive strains. The SMK toxin, secreted by the halotolerant yeast Pichia farinosa KK1 strain, uniquely exhibits its maximum killer activity under conditions of acidic pH and high salt concentration. The toxin is composed of two distinct subunits, alpha and beta, which tightly interact with each other under acidic conditions. However, they are easily dissociated under neutral conditions and lose the killer activity. The three-dimensional structure of the SMK toxin will provide a better understanding of the mechanism of toxicity of this protein and the cause of its unique pH-dependent stability. RESULTS: Two crystal structures of the SMK toxin have been determined at 1.8 A resolution in different ionic strength conditions. The two subunits, alpha and beta, are jointly folded into an ellipsoidal, single domain structure belonging to the alpha/beta-sandwich family. The folding topology of the SMK toxin is essentially the same as that of the fungal killer toxin, KP4. This shared topology contains two left-handed split betaalphabeta motifs, which are rare in the other proteins. Many acidic residues are clustered at the bottom of the SMK toxin molecule. Some of the carboxyl sidechains interact with each other through hydrogen bonds. The ionic strength difference induces no evident structural change of the SMK toxin except that, in the high ionic strength crystal, a number of sulfate ions are electrostatically bound near the basic residues which are also locally distributed at the bottom of the toxin molecule. CONCLUSIONS: The two killer toxins, SMK and KP4, share a unique folding topology which contains a rare structural motif. This observation may suggest that these toxins are evolutionally and/or functionally related. The pH-dependent stability of the SMK toxin is a result of the intensive interactions between the carboxyl groups. This finding is important for protein engineering, for instance, towards stabilization of the toxin molecule in a broader pH range. The present crystallographic study revealed that the structure of the SMK toxin itself is hardly affected by the ionic strength, implying that a high salt concentration affects the sensitivity of the cell against the toxin.

The primary and subunit structure of a novel type killer toxin produced by a halotolerant yeast, Pichia farinosa.

A halotolerant yeast, Pichia farinosa KK1 strain, produces a unique killer toxin termed SMK toxin (salt-mediated killer toxin) which shows its maximum killer activity in the presence of 2 M NaCl. The toxin consists of two distinct subunits, alpha and beta, which are tightly linked without a disulfide bond under acidic conditions, even in the presence of 6 M urea. Under neutral conditions, however, the alpha subunit precipitates, resulting in the dissociation of the subunits and the loss of killer activity. The nucleotide sequence of the SMK1 gene predicts a 222 amino acid preprotoxin with a typical signal sequence, the hydrophobic alpha, an interstitial gamma polypeptide with a putative glycosylation site, and the hydrophilic beta. Amino acid sequence analyses of peptide fragments including the carboxyl-terminal peptides fragments including the carboxyl-terminal peptides from each subunit suggest that the alpha and beta subunits consist of amino acid residues 19-81 and 146-222 of the preprotoxin, respectively, and the molecular weight of the mature alpha beta dimer is 14,214. The KEX2-like endopeptidase and KEX1-like carboxypeptidase may be involved in the stepwise processing of the SMK preprotoxin. The maturation process and the functions of the SMK toxin are compared with the K1 toxin of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Selection of starter cultures for the production of kinema, a fermented soybean food of the Himalaya.

Kinema, a traditional fermented soybean food, serves as a low-cost source of protein in the diet of the people of the Himalaya. The traditional method of kinema preparation results in a product with inconsistent quality. Forty five strains of spore-forming bacteria were isolated from nine samples of kinema collected from markets in the Darjeeling hills and Sikkim in India. Of these, 10 strains, identified as Bacillus subtilis (Ehrenberg) Cohn, were selected as possible starter cultures on the basis of enzyme activities and the production of slimy material. Protease activity (U/ml), α-amylase activity (U/ml) and relative viscosity of the selected strains were 6.5 to 81.5, 0.1 to 9.3, and 1.1 to 20.1, respectively. Kinema produced by these strains showed nitrogen contents (expressed as a percentage of the total nitrogen content) of: water-soluble N, 48.4 to 76.5; TCA-soluble N, 16.0 to 27.6; formal N, 5.0 to 12.5; ammonia-N, 4.4 to 7.8%. Reducing sugar was 1.1 to 2.0% of the wet weight and relative viscosity was from 2.0 to 35.2. Correlation matrices of the biochemical parameters and sensory attributes of the kinema produced by these B. subtilis strains were statistically analysed. Strains KK-2:B10 and GK-2:B10 of B. subtilis were the best starter cultures for improved kinema production.

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction studies of a novel killer toxin from a halotolerant yeast Pichia farinosa.

A killer toxin from a halotolerant yeast, Pichia farinosa strain KK1, was crystallized at high- and low-salt concentrations. Crystals from the high-salt solution belonged to the tetragonal space group P4(1)2(1)2 or P4(3)2(1)2, with unit-cell dimensions of a = b = 81.10, c = 118.46 A. The low-salt solution provided crystals that belonged to the same space group, with nearly same cell dimensions. Preliminary diffraction studies showed that the intensity distributions are significantly different between the two crystals. Both types of crystals contained either two or three molecules per asymmetric unit. They diffracted X-rays beyond 2.0 A resolution and were stable to X-ray irradiation.

Circular dichroism analysis of the interaction between the alpha and beta subunits in a killer toxin produced by a halotolerant yeast, Pichia farinosa.

SMK toxin is a killer toxin produced by a halotolerant yeast, Pichia farinosa. It is a heterodimer consisting of alpha (63 aa) and beta (77 aa) subunits, between which no disulfide bond exists. The two subunits interact tightly with each other below pH 5. However, the subunits dissociate under neutral conditions, resulting in the aggregation of the alpha subunit and the concomitant loss of killer activity. CD spectral measurements showed that the secondary structure of the SMK toxin changes drastically in the pH range 5.1-5.5 and that after the dissociation of the subunits, the soluble beta subunit alone cannot take any secondary structure. It was also shown that the concentration of NaCl does not affect the secondary structure of the SMK toxin.

Production of a new type of acid carboxypeptidase of molds of the Aspergillus niger group.

The ability of 88 fungi, which had been obtained as high-potency strains for acid proteinase production, to produce a new type of acid carboxypeptidase (having on optimal pH of about 3 for hydrolysis of benzyloxycarbonyl-glutamyltyrosine) in surface koji culture was determined. Among the aspergilli, substantial amounts of this new acid carboxypeptidase were produced by Aspergillus saitoi, A. usamii, A. awamori, A. inuii, and A. niger. Maximum yields of acid carboxypeptidase per gram of substrate were obtained by submerged culture in a medium containing 0.9% defatted soybean and 0.6% wheat bran. However, the maximum enzyme concentration per milliliter was obtained with a medium containing 3% defatted soybean and 2% wheat bran. The terminal pH could be controlled by varying the concentrations of soybean oil meal and wheat bran. The maximum enzyme production was reached after 4 days or more at 30 C.

The application of DSM-III diagnostic criteria to school refusal.

The DSM-III diagnostic criteria were applied to school refusal cases, and the possibility of a subclassification of school refusal through the DSM-III was studied. The subjects were 50 cases diagnosed as school refusal following the criteria defined by Sumi and Tatara. As for the Axis I diagnoses, the subjects fell under the separation anxiety disorder (7 cases), avoidance disorder (13 cases), overanxious disorder (8 cases), identity disorder (5 cases), adjustment disorder (11 cases) and others. On Axis II, no case was diagnosed as having the personality disorder, but 14 cases showed pathological personality traits. On Axis III, nine cases showed some physical disorders or conditions. Among the five major diagnostic groups, there were some definite differences concerning the onset age, clinical course, psychosocial stress, response to therapy and prognosis of disorders. These results suggest the availability of a subclassification of school refusal by means of the DSM-III criteria.