Biodiversity of autolytic ability in flocculent Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains suitable for traditional sparkling wine fermentation.

Yeasts involved in secondary fermentation of traditional sparkling wines should show specific characteristics, such as flocculation capacity and autolysis. Recently it has been postulated that autophagy may contribute to the outcome of autolysis. In this study, 28 flocculent wine Saccahromyces cerevisiae strains characterized by different flocculation degrees were studied for their autolytic and autophagic activities. Autolysis was monitored in synthetic medium through the determination of amino acid nitrogen and total proteins released. At the same time, novel primer sets were developed to determine the expression of the genes ATG1, ATG17 and ATG29. Twelve strains were selected on the basis of their autolytic rate and ATG gene expressions in synthetic medium and were inoculated in a base wine. After 30, 60 and 180 days the autolytic process and ATG gene expressions were evaluated. The obtained data showed that autolysis and ATG gene expressions differed among strains and were independent of the degree of flocculation. This biodiversity could be exploited to select new starter stains to improve sparkling wine production. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Distinct roles for the p53-like transcription factor XprG and autophagy genes in the response to starvation.

Autophagy and autolysis are two cannibalistic pathways which allow filamentous fungi to obtain nutrients once environmental nutrient sources are exhausted. In Aspergillus nidulans, the effects of mutations in two key autophagy genes, atgA, the ATG1 ortholog, and atgH, the ATG8 ortholog, were compared with mutations in xprG, which encodes a transcriptional activator that plays a key role in autolysis. The anti-fungal drug rapamycin induces autophagy in a range of organisms. Mutations in atgA and atgH did not alter sensitivity to rapamycin, which inhibits growth and asexual spore production (conidiation), indicating that autophagy is not required for rapamycin sensitivity in A. nidulans. In contrast, inhibition of conidiation by rapamcyin was partially suppressed by the xprG1 gain-of-function mutation, indicating that XprG acts in the pathway(s) affected by rapamycin. It was anticipated that the absence of an intact autophagy pathway would accelerate the response to starvation. However, extracellular and intracellular protease production in response to carbon or nitrogen starvation was not increased in the atgAΔ and atgHΔ mutants, and the onset of autolysis was not accelerated. Compared to wild-type strains and the xprGΔ and xprG1 mutants, conidiation of the autophagy mutants was reduced in carbon- or nitrogen-limiting conditions but not during growth on nutrient-sufficient medium. Nuclear localization of the global nitrogen regulator AreA in response to nitrogen starvation was blocked in the xprG2 loss-of-function mutant, but not in the atgHΔ mutant. Conversely, the atgAΔ mutation but not the xprGΔ mutation prevented vacuolar accumulation of GFP-AtgH, a hallmark of autophagy. These results indicate that in A. nidulans there is little interaction between autophagy and autolysis and the two pathways are activated in parallel during starvation.

Identification and functional characterization of AclB, a novel cell-separating enzyme from Lactobacillus casei.

Autolysis of nonstarter lactic acid bacteria (NSLAB) was favorable for the development of flavor compounds during cheese manufacture. Among these bacteria, Lb. casei was regarded as the most important microbiota involved in cheese processes. In this study, a novel autolysin named AclB was identified in the genome of Lb. casei BL23 and its modular structure was predicted through bioinformatic approaches. Subsequently, its transcription profile in the exponential phase, hydrolytic activities against cell walls, enzymatic properties under different conditions, physiological function via gene inactivation and upregulation assays, as well as potential applications to NSLAB's autolysis were fully investigated. According to the results, AclB was recognized as a species-specific cell-separating enzyme, responsible for cell separation after cell division in Lb. casei BL23. The purified AclB showed considerable hydrolyzing activities towards cell walls, indicating its enzymatic nature as peptidoglycan hydrolase, or autolysin. The highest activity of AclB was determined at pH5.0 and 37°C, and the expression vector constructed based on AclB was shown to facilitate the controlled lysis of Lb. casei BL23 hosts. In summary, this study provided insight into the enzymatic properties of a novel autolysin involved in cell separation of Lb. casei BL23, which is promising to accelerate cheese ripening and improve cheese quality.

Impact of the glpQ2 gene on virulence in a Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 19A sequence type 320 strain.

Glycerophosphodiester phosphodiesterase (GlpQ) metabolizes glycerophosphorylcholine from the lung epithelium to produce free choline, which is transformed into phosphorylcholine and presented on the surfaces of many respiratory pathogens. Two orthologs of glpQ genes are found in Streptococcus pneumoniae: glpQ, with a membrane motif, is widespread in pneumococci, whereas glpQ2, which shares high similarity with glpQ in Haemophilus influenzae and Mycoplasma pneumoniae, is present only in S. pneumoniae serotype 3, 6B, 19A, and 19F strains. Recently, serotype 19A has emerged as an epidemiological etiology associated with invasive pneumococcal diseases. Thus, we investigated the pathophysiological role of glpQ2 in a serotype 19A sequence type 320 (19AST320) strain, which was the prevalent sequence type in 19A associated with severe pneumonia and invasive pneumococcal disease in pediatric patients. Mutations in glpQ2 reduced phosphorylcholine expression and the anchorage of choline-binding proteins to the pneumococcal surface during the exponential phase, where the mutants exhibited reduced autolysis and lower natural transformation abilities than the parent strain. The deletion of glpQ2 also decreased the adherence and cytotoxicity to human lung epithelial cell lines, whereas these functions were indistinguishable from those of the wild type in complementation strains. In a murine respiratory tract infection model, glpQ2 was important for nasopharynx and lung colonization. Furthermore, infection with a glpQ2 mutant decreased the severity of pneumonia compared with the parent strain, and glpQ2 gene complementation restored the inflammation level. Therefore, glpQ2 enhances surface phosphorylcholine expression in S. pneumoniae 19AST320 during the exponential phase, which contributes to the severity of pneumonia by promoting adherence and host cell cytotoxicity.

Gene knockout and overexpression analysis revealed the role of N-acetylmuramidase in autolysis of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus ljj-6.

Autolysis of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) plays a vital role in dairy processing. During cheese making, autolysis of LAB affects cheese flavor development through release of intracellular enzymes and restricts the proliferation of cells in yogurt fermentation and probiotics production. In order to explore the mechanism of autolysis, the gene for the autolytic enzymes of L. bulgaricus, N-acetylmuramidase (mur), was cloned and sequenced (GenBank accession number: KF157911). Mur gene overexpression and gene knockout vectors were constructed based on pMG76e and pUC19 vectors. Recombinant plasmids were transformed into L. bulgaricus ljj-6 by electroporation, then three engineered strains with pMG76e-mur vector and fifteen engineered strains with pUC19-mur::EryBII were screened. The autolysis of the mur knockout strain was significantly lower and autolysis of the mur overexpressed strain was significantly higher compared with that of the wild type strain ljj-6. This result suggested that the mur gene played an important role in autolysis of L. bulgaricus. On the other hand, autolytic activity in a low degree was still observed in the mur knockout strain, which implied that other enzymes but autolysin encoded by mur were also involved in autolysis of L. bulgaricus.

Discovery of a novel gene involved in autolysis of Clostridium cells.

Cell autolysis plays important physiological roles in the life cycle of clostridial cells. Understanding the genetic basis of the autolysis phenomenon of pathogenic Clostridium or solvent producing Clostridium cells might provide new insights into this important species. Genes that might be involved in autolysis of Clostridium acetobutylicum, a model clostridial species, were investigated in this study. Twelve putative autolysin genes were predicted in C. acetobutylicum DSM 1731 genome through bioinformatics analysis. Of these 12 genes, gene SMB_G3117 was selected for testing the in tracellular autolysin activity, growth profile, viable cell numbers, and cellular morphology. We found that overexpression of SMB_G3117 gene led to earlier ceased growth, significantly increased number of dead cells, and clear electrolucent cavities, while disruption of SMB_G3117 gene exhibited remarkably reduced intracellular autolysin activity. These results indicate that SMB_G3117 is a novel gene involved in cellular autolysis of C. acetobutylicum.

Effect of cell wall integrity stress and RlmA transcription factor on asexual development and autolysis in Aspergillus nidulans.

The cell wall integrity (CWI) signaling pathway is responsible for cell wall remodeling and reinforcement upon cell wall stress, which is proposed to be universal in fungal cultures. In Aspergillus nidulans, both the deletion of rlmA encoding the RlmA transcription factor in CWI signaling and low concentrations of the cell wall polymer intercalating agent Congo Red caused significant physiological changes. The gene deletion mutant ΔrlmA strain showed decreased CWI and oxidative stress resistances, which indicated the connection between the CWI pathway and the oxidative stress response system. The Congo Red stress resulted in alterations in the cell wall polymer composition in submerged cultures due to the induction of the biosynthesis of the alkali soluble fraction as well as the hydrolysis of cell wall biopolymers. Both RlmA and RlmA-independent factors induced by Congo Red stress regulated the expression of glucanase (ANID_00245, engA) and chitinase (chiB, chiA) genes, which promoted the autolysis of the cultures and also modulated the pellet sizes. CWI stress and rlmA deletion affected the expression of brlA encoding the early conidiophore development regulator transcription factor BrlA and, as a consequence, the formation of conidiophores was significantly changed in submerged cultures. Interestingly, the number of conidiospores increased in surface cultures of the ΔrlmA strain. The in silico analysis of genes putatively regulated by RlmA and the CWI transcription factors AnSwi4/AnSwi6 in the SBF complex revealed only a few jointly regulated genes, including ugmA and srrA coding for UgmA UDP-galactopyranose mutase and SrrA stress response regulator, respectively.

Function of the activated protein C (APC) autolysis loop in activated FVIII inactivation.

Activated protein C (APC) binds to its substrates activated factor V (FVa) and activated factor VIII (FVIIIa) with a basic exosite that consists of loops 37, 60, 70 and the autolysis loop. These loops have a high density of basic residues, resulting in a positive charge on the surface of APC. Many of these residues are important in the interaction of APC with FVa and FVIIIa. The current study focused on the function of the autolysis loop in the interaction with FVIIIa. This loop was previously shown to interact with FVa, and it inhibits APC inactivation by plasma serpins. Charged residues of the autolysis loop were individually mutated to alanine and the activity of these mutants was assessed in functional FVIIIa inactivation assays. The autolysis loop was functionally important for FVIIIa inactivation. Mutation of R306, K311 and R314 each resulted in significantly reduced FVIIIa inactivation. The inactivating cleavages of FVIIIa at R336 and R562 were affected equally by the mutations. Protein S and FV stimulated cleavage at R562 more than cleavage at R336, independent of mutations in the autolysis loop. Together, these results confirmed that the autolysis loop plays a significant role as part of the basic exosite on APC in the interaction with FVIIIa.

The extracellular ß-1,3-endoglucanase EngA is involved in autolysis of Aspergillus nidulans.

AIMS: To elucidate the roles of the ß-1,3-endoglucanase EngA in autolysis of the filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans and to identify the common regulatory elements of autolytic hydrolases. METHODS AND RESULTS: A ß-1,3-endoglucanase was purified from carbon-starving cultures of A. nidulans. This enzyme is found to be encoded by the engA gene (locus ID: AN0472.3). Functional and gene-expression studies demonstrated that EngA is involved in the autolytic cell wall degradation resulting from carbon starvation of the fungus. Moreover, regulation of engA is found to be dependent on the FluG/BrlA asexual sporulation signalling pathway in submerged culture. The deletion of either engA or chiB (encoding an endochitinase) caused highly reduced production of hydrolases in general. CONCLUSIONS: The ß-1,3-endoglucanase EngA plays a pivotal role in fungal autolysis, and activities of both EngA and ChiB are necessary to orchestrate the expression of autolytic hydrolases. The production of cell wall-degrading enzymes was coordinately controlled in a highly sophisticated and complex manner. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: No information was available on the autolytic glucanase(s) of the euascomycete A. nidulans. This study demonstrates that EngA is a key element in fungal autolysis, and normal activities of both EngA and ChiB are crucial for balanced production of hydrolases.

Construction of a recombinant autolytic wine yeast strain overexpressing the csc1-1 allele.

During the aging step of sparkling wines and wines aged on lees, yeast cells kept in contact with the wine finally die and undergo autolysis, releasing cellular compounds with a positive effect on the wine quality. In view of the interest of autolysis for wine properties, biotechnologists have tried to improve autolytic yield during winemaking. In this work we used genetic engineering techniques to construct an autolytic industrial strain by expressing the csc1-1 allele from the RDN1 locus. The expression of this mutant allele, that causes a "constitutive in autophagy phenotype," resulted in accelerated autolysis of the recombinant strain. Although autophagic phenotype due to csc1-1 expression has been reported to require the mutant allele in multicopy, autolytic acceleration was achieved by expressing only one or two copies of the gene under the control of the constitutive promotor pTDH3. The acceleration of autolysis together with the unaltered fermentative capacity, strongly supported the overexpression of csc1-1 allele as a strategy to obtain wines with aged-like properties in a shortened time.

Asexual sporulation signalling regulates autolysis of Aspergillus nidulans via modulating the chitinase ChiB production.

AIMS: Elucidation of the regulation of ChiB production in Aspergillus nidulans. METHODS AND RESULTS: Mutational inactivation of the A. nidulans chiB gene resulted in a nonautolytic phenotype. To better understand the mechanisms controlling both developmental progression and fungal autolysis, we examined a range of autolysis-associated parameters in A. nidulans developmental and/or autolytic mutants. Investigation of disorganization of mycelial pellets, loss of biomass, extra-/intracellular chitinase activities, ChiB production and chiB mRNA levels in various cultures revealed that, in submerged cultures, initialization of autolysis and stationary phase-induced ChiB production are intimately coupled, and that both processes are controlled by the FluG-BrlA asexual sporulation regulatory pathway. ChiB production does not affect the progression of apoptotic cell death in the aging A. nidulans cultures. CONCLUSIONS: The endochitinase ChiB plays an important role in autolysis of A. nidulans, and its production is initiated by FluG-BrlA signalling. Despite the fact that apoptosis is an inseparable part of fungal autolysis, its regulation is independent to FluG-initiated sporulation signalling. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Deletion of chiB and fluG homologues in industrial filamentous fungal strains may stabilize the hyphal structures in the autolytic phase of growth and limit the release of autolytic hydrolases into the culture medium.

The presence of pMRC01 promotes greater cell permeability and autolysis in lactococcal starter cultures.

Conjugative transfer of plasmid-associated properties is routinely used to generate food-grade derivatives of lactococcal starter strains with improved technological traits. However, the introduction of one or more plasmids in a single strain is likely to impose a burden on regular cell metabolism and may affect the growth characteristics of the transconjugant culture. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the 60.2-kb plasmid pMRC01 (encoding for an abortive infection bacteriophage resistance system and production of the anti-microbial, lacticin 3147) on starter performance. Five lactococcal strains (L. lactis HP, 255A, SK1, 712 and IL1403) and their pMRC01-containing derivatives were compared in terms of technological properties, including analysis of growth, acidification and autolysis rates. The transconjugants exhibited lower specific growth rates and higher generation times compared to the parental strains when grown at 30 degrees C in glucose-M17, but the presence of pMRC01 did not significantly affect the acidification capacity of strains in 11% reconstituted skimmed milk and synthetic media. Levels of lactate dehydrogenase were two-fold higher in supernatants of transconjugants than in those of parental strains, after 24 and 72 h of growth at 30 degrees C in glucose-M17, suggesting that the presence of pMRC01 somehow accelerates and promotes cellular autolysis. Analysis by flow cytometry following live/dead staining confirmed this result by showing larger populations of injured and dead cells in pMRC01-carrying cultures compared to the parental strains. The results of this study reveal that the plasmid pMRC01 places a burden on lactococcal host metabolism, which is associated with an increased cell permeability and autolysis, without significantly affecting the acidification capacity of the starter. While the magnitude of these effects appears to be strain dependent, the production of the bacteriocin lacticin 3147 may not be involved.

Release of cell wall polysaccharides from Saccharomyces cerevisiae thermosensitive autolytic mutants during alcoholic fermentation.

In order to increase the release of cell wall polysaccharides during alcoholic fermentation, a wine strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was subjected to UV mutagenesis to obtain thermosensitive autolytic mutants affected in cell wall integrity. Five mutants and the parental strain were utilized in fermentation trials conducted at 28, 32 and 34 degrees C. Results showed that at all temperatures the mutant strains released into the medium a higher polysaccharide quantity than the parental strain. In particular, at 28 degrees C there was a doubling of these macromolecules. At the end of alcoholic fermentation, all strains showed at 28 degrees C elevated and similar levels of viable cells; at 32 degrees C this parameter remained high for mutant strains ts16 and ts39 and the parental strain; at 34 degrees C all strains underwent a drop in cell viability, which was less intense in the case of strain ts16. As a relationship between cell viability and the quantity of polysaccharides released by the yeast strain was not found, it can be assumed that the mutation led to cells with a less stable wall and thus an easier release of macromolecules into the medium.

Contributions of basic amino acids in the autolysis loop of factor XIa to serpin specificity.

The autolysis loops (amino acids 143-154, chymotrypsinogen numbering) of plasma serine proteases play key roles in determining the specificity of protease inhibition by plasma serpins. We studied the importance of four basic residues (Arg-144, Lys-145, Arg-147, and Lys-149) in the autolysis loop of the coagulation protease factor XIa (fXIa) for inhibition by serpins. Recombinant fXIa mutants, in which these residues were replaced individually or in combination with alanine, were prepared. The proteases were compared to wild-type fXIa (fXIa-WT) with respect to their ability to activate factor IX in a plasma clotting assay, to hydrolyze the chromogenic substrate S2366, and to undergo inhibition by the C1-inhibitor (C1-INH), protein Z dependent protease inhibitor (ZPI), antithrombin (AT), and alpha(1)-protease inhibitor (alpha(1)-PI). All mutants exhibited normal activity in plasma and hydrolyzed S2366 with catalytic efficiencies similar to that of fXIa-WT. Inhibition of mutants by C1-INH was increased to varying degrees relative to that of fXIa-WT, with the mutant containing alanine replacements for all four basic residues (fXIa-144-149A) exhibiting an approximately 15-fold higher rate of inhibition. In contrast, the inhibition by ZPI was impaired 2-3-fold for single amino acid substitutions, and fXIa-144-149A was essentially resistant to inhibition by ZPI. Alanine substitution for Arg-147 impaired inhibition by AT approximately 7-fold; however, other substitutions did not affect it or slightly enhanced inhibition. Arg-147 was also required for inhibition by alpha(1)-PI. Cumulatively, the results demonstrate that basic amino acids in the autolysis loop of fXIa are important determinants of serpin specificity.

Functional analysis of the YvrGHb two-component system of Bacillus subtilis: identification of the regulated genes by DNA microarray and northern blot analyses.

YvrGHb is a novel two-component system in Bacillus subtilis. The yvrG and yvrHb genes are considered to encode sensor kinase and response regulator respectively. We found that the YvrGHb system positively regulates the 7 transcriptional units (wprA, wapA-yxxG, dltABCDE, sunA, sunT-bdbA-yolJ-bdbB, yvrI-yvrHa, and sigX-rsiX), and negatively regulates the lytABC operon. wprA, wapA, lytB, and lytC encode the main cell surface proteins of B. subtilis. Furthermore, SigX [extracytoplasmic function sigma factor (ECF sigma factor)] relating to the cell surface homeostatic functions, was regulated by this system. The yvrGHb null mutant showed the unusual autolysis and higher susceptibility to the four kinds of antibiotics (aztreonam, cefepime, bacitracin, and fosfomycin). These results indicate that the YvrGHb system is important to maintain the overall state of the cell surface through transcriptional regulation.

Elongation factor 1 (EF1alpha) promoter in a lentiviral backbone improves expression of the CD20 suicide gene in primary T lymphocytes allowing efficient rituximab-mediated lysis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: CD20 has been proposed as a novel suicide gene system for the treatment of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), a fatal complication of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation: indeed expression of the human non-immunogenic exogenous CD20 protein allows positive immunoselection of transduced cells as well as their killing in vitro with rituximab. Lentiviral vectors are promising tools in the field of gene therapy. We therefore searched for a lentivector giving good efficiency of transduction of human T lymphocytes activated by the sole addition of interleukin (IL)-2 and high expression levels of the CD20 transgene. DESIGN AND METHODS: The T cell line CEM and peripheral T lymphocytes activated by phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and/or IL-2 were transduced with two different vectors carrying the CD20 transgene driven by either the phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) or elongation factor 1alpha (EF1alpha) promoter, and using different multiplicities of infection (MOIs). RESULTS: Both the PGK- and EF1alpha-CD20 vectors allowed efficient transduction of the CEM cell line and PHA-activated T cells, reaching 99 and 90% in the different targets, respectively. However EF1alpha-CD20 led to much higher expression levels of the transgene (mean fluorescence intensity 588-618 compared to 53 for PGK-CD20). Furthermore lymphocytes activated with IL-2 alone could be efficiently transduced with EF1alpha-CD20, reaching 10-25% positivity for CD20 (mean fluorescence intensity 409-424), allowing adequate immunoselection and strong complement-mediated lysis. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS: EF1alpha-CD20 may represent a good candidate vector for gene therapy with the CD20 suicide system in the setting of allogeneic bone marrow transplants.

Molecular pathology and evolutionary and physiological implications of pancreatitis-associated cationic trypsinogen mutations.

Since the identification in 1996 of a "gain of function" missense mutation, R122H, in the cationic trypsinogen gene (PRSS1) as a cause of hereditary pancreatitis, continued screening of this gene in both hereditary and sporadic pancreatitis has found more disease-associated missense mutations than expected. In addition, functional analysis has yielded interesting findings regarding their underlying mechanisms resulting in a gain of trypsin. A critical review of these data, in the context of the complicated biogenesis and complex autoactivation and autolysis of trypsin(ogen), highlights that PRSS1 mutations cause the disease by various mechanisms depending on which biochemical process they affect. The discovery of these mutations also modifies the classical perception of the disease and, more importantly, reveals fascinating new aspects of the molecular evolution and normal physiology of trypsinogen. First, activation peptide of trypsinogen is under strong selection pressure to minimize autoactivation in higher vertebrates. Second, the R122 primary autolysis site has further evolved in mammalian trypsinogens. Third, evolutionary divergence from threonine to asparagine at residue 29 in human cationic trypsinogen provides additional advantage. Accordingly, we tentatively assign, in human cationic trypsinogen, the strongly selected activation peptide as the first-line and the R122 autolysis site as the second-line of the built-in defensive mechanisms against premature trypsin activation within the pancreas, respectively, and the positively selected asparagine at residue 29 as an "amplifier" to the R122 "fail-safe" mechanism.

Extraction of DNA from decomposed human tissue. An evaluation of five extraction methods for short tandem repeat typing.

Hyperpolymorphic short tandem repetitive DNA sequences, STRs or microsatellites, have become widely used in human identification, particularly in criminal cases and in mass disasters. In such cases the substrates for the analyses may be decomposed biological material, a fact that has to be taken into account when choosing the appropriate casework methods. In this paper we report the evaluation of five different DNA extraction methods, namely the phenol-chloroform, the silica based, the InstaGene Matrix (BioTest), the glass fiber filter, and the Chelex based methods. The substrates for the analyses are decomposed human liver tissue specimens from forensic autopsy cases. Extracted DNA was quantified and DNA profiled by a set of seven STRs. We have compared laboratory time consumption and costs of the five methods, showing that the Chelex method is the more rapid and less expensive of the methods, the phenol-chlorophorm and silica extractions being the most time consuming and resource demanding ones. A full profile was obtained by the silica method in nine out of ten cases and this method failed to give a reliable type in four out of 70 STR analyses. The phenol-chlorophorm and the glass fiber filter methods failed in 16 analyses, the InstaGene Matrix (BioTest) in 25 and the Chelex extracts in 56 of the 70 STR analyses. By multiple logistic regression we show that the difference between the silica procedure and the other methods are statistically significant. In our hands, the silica gel extraction procedure is an obvious choice when the biological material available is decomposed human tissue--even if this procedure is one of the more laborious ones.

The effects of truncations of the small subunit on m-calpain activity and heterodimer formation.

In order to study subunit interactions in calpain, the effects of small subunit truncations on m-calpain activity and heterodimer formation have been measured. It has been shown previously that active calpain is formed by co-expression of the large subunit (80 kDa) of rat m-calpain with a delta 86 form (21 kDa) of the small subunit. cDNA for the full-length 270 amino acid (28.5 kDa) rat calpain small subunit has now been cloned, both with and without an N-terminal histidine tag (NHis10). The full-length small subunit constructs yielded active calpains on co-expression with the large subunit, and the small subunit was autolysed to 20 kDa on exposure of these calpains to Ca2+. A series of deletion mutants of the small subunit, NHis10-delta 86, -delta 99, -delta 107, and -delta 116, gave active heterodimeric calpains with unchanged specific activities, although in decreasing yield, and with a progressive decrease in stability. NHis10-delta 125 formed a heterodimer which was inactive and unstable. Removal of 25 C-terminal residues from delta 86, leaving residues 87-245, abolished both activity and heterodimer formation. The results show that: (a) generation of active m-calpain in Escherichia coli requires heterodimer formation; (b) small subunit residues between 94 and 116 contribute to the stability of the active heterodimer but do not directly affect the catalytic mechanism; (c) residues in the region 245-270 are essential for subunit binding. Finally, it was shown that an inactive mutant Cys103-->Ser-80k/delta 86 calpain, used in order to preclude autolysis, did not dissociate in the presence of Ca2+, a result which does not support the proposal that Ca(2+)-induced dissociation is involved in calpain activation.

Characterization of thermosensitive autolytic mutants from diploid Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

In order to carry out a systematic search for mutants affected in cell integrity, the diploid strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae D1 was subjected to mutagenesis with ethyl methane sulphonate (EMS), and mutant clones were screened for thermosensitive autolytic phenotypes. The screening was based on examination of cell populations, from individual mutant clones, stained with propidium iodide to establish the proportion of cells lysing under non-permissive conditions by means of flow cytometry. Osmotic remediation of the autolytic phenotype in the presence of 1 M sorbitol was also checked. Out of 13,300 clones surviving mutagenesis, 34 were confirmed to be thermosensitive autolytic and 7 of them showed some osmotic complementation with regard to growth and cell lysis. The osmotic remediation in the other strains was negligible or affected only one of the two parameters. The expression of the mutant phenotype in the strains isolated led to a sporulation defect (40% of the strains) and significant alterations in morphology, such as cells in chains (35%), altered buds (25%) that eventually might elongate, round unbudded and highly vacuolated cells (12%) and large-sized cells (12%). These observations show that alterations in functions related to cell integrity can be correlated with an altered morphology. Genetic analysis of the mutant strains that could sporulate showed that in many instances the mutant phenotype was the result of more than one mutation, the mutations being individually recessive. However, at least one mutant strain, 933, carried a single mendelian mutation that was dominant in the diploid but haploid segregants were non-viable. Dominance of this mutation was also confirmed in tetraploids obtained by means of protoplast fusion.