Serine/threonine protein kinase YPK1, a homologue of mammalian protein kinase serum and glucocorticoid-inducible kinase (SGK), plays important physiological roles in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It involves in cell wall maintenance, actin cytoskeleton dynamics, endocytosis, translation during nitrogen starvation and nutrient sensing.
Objective: In order to further explore the cellular function of YPK1 and the its transduction pathway.
Methods: We overexpressed YPK1 in wild type and tor1 mutant cells and monitored the cell growth responding to salt stress.
Results: We found that YPK1 overexpression resulted salt stress hypersensitivity in wild type cells and this hypersensitivity was abolished by tor1 mutant.
Conclusion: Our results indicate that YPK1 may interact with target of rapamycin (TOR1) to regulate the salt stress response.