Yeast filamentation signaling is connected to a specific substrate translocation mechanism of the Mep2 transceptor

PLoS Genet. 2020 Feb 18;16(2):e1008634. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1008634. eCollection 2020 Feb.

Abstract

The dimorphic transition from the yeast to the filamentous form of growth allows cells to explore their environment for more suitable niches and is often crucial for the virulence of pathogenic fungi. In contrast to their Mep1/3 paralogues, fungal Mep2-type ammonium transport proteins of the conserved Mep-Amt-Rh family have been assigned an additional receptor role required to trigger the filamentation signal in response to ammonium scarcity. Here, genetic, kinetic and structure-function analyses were used to shed light on the poorly characterized signaling role of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Mep2. We show that Mep2 variants lacking the C-terminal tail conserve the ability to induce filamentation, revealing that signaling can proceed in the absence of exclusive binding of a putative partner to the largest cytosolic domain of the protein. Our data support that filamentation signaling requires the conformational changes accompanying substrate translocation through the pore crossing the hydrophobic core of Mep2. pHluorin reporter assays show that the transport activity of Mep2 and of non-signaling Mep1 differently affect yeast cytosolic pH in vivo, and that the unique pore variant Mep2H194E, with apparent uncoupling of transport and signaling functions, acquires increased ability of acidification. Functional characterization in Xenopus oocytes reveals that Mep2 mediates electroneutral substrate translocation while Mep1 performs electrogenic transport. Our findings highlight that the Mep2-dependent filamentation induction is connected to its specific transport mechanism, suggesting a role of pH in signal mediation. Finally, we show that the signaling process is conserved for the Mep2 protein from the human pathogen Candida albicans.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Ammonium Compounds / metabolism
  • Animals
  • Cation Transport Proteins / genetics
  • Cation Transport Proteins / metabolism*
  • Genes, Reporter / genetics
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins / chemistry
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins / genetics
  • Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
  • Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions
  • Hyphae / metabolism*
  • Mutation
  • Oocytes
  • Protein Domains / genetics*
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae / physiology*
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / genetics
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / metabolism*
  • Signal Transduction / physiology
  • Xenopus

Substances

  • Ammonium Compounds
  • Cation Transport Proteins
  • MEP1 protein, S cerevisiae
  • MEP2 protein, S cerevisiae
  • PHluorin
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins

Grants and funding

ASB is a Research Fellow of the F.R.S.-FNRS, RW is a research associate of the F.R.S.-FNRS, AMM is a senior research associate of the F.R.S.-FNRS and a WELBIO investigator, and MB is a scientific research worker supported by WELBIO. AMM received support for this work from F.R.S.-FNRS (CDR J017617F, PDR T011515F, PDR 33658167), the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (Action de Recherche Concertée), WELBIO, Université Libre de Bruxelles (FER), the Brachet Funds, and the “Alice et David Van Buuren” foundation. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.