Unraveling fatty acid transport and activation mechanisms in Yarrowia lipolytica

Biochim Biophys Acta. 2015 Sep;1851(9):1202-17. doi: 10.1016/j.bbalip.2015.04.004. Epub 2015 Apr 15.

Abstract

Fatty acid (FA) transport and activation have been extensively studied in the model yeast species Saccharomyces cerevisiae but have rarely been examined in oleaginous yeasts, such as Yarrowia lipolytica. Because the latter begins to be used in biodiesel production, understanding its FA transport and activation mechanisms is essential. We found that Y. lipolytica has FA transport and activation proteins similar to those of S. cerevisiae (Faa1p, Pxa1p, Pxa2p, Ant1p) but mechanism of FA peroxisomal transport and activation differs greatly with that of S. cerevisiae. While the ScPxa1p/ScPxa2p heterodimer is essential for growth on long-chain FAs, ΔYlpxa1 ΔYlpxa2 is not impaired for growth on FAs. Meanwhile, ScAnt1p and YlAnt1p are both essential for yeast growth on medium-chain FAs, suggesting they function similarly. Interestingly, we found that the ΔYlpxa1 ΔYlpxa2 ΔYlant1 mutant was unable to grow on short-, medium-, or long-chain FAs, suggesting that YlPxa1p, YlPxa2p, and YlAnt1p belong to two different FA degradation pathways. We also found that YlFaa1p is involved in FA storage in lipid bodies and that FA remobilization largely depended on YlFat1p, YlPxa1p and YlPxa2p. This study is the first to comprehensively examine FA intracellular transport and activation in oleaginous yeast.

Keywords: ANT1; FAA1; FAT1; PXA1; PXA2; Peroxisome.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters / genetics
  • ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters / metabolism
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Biological Transport
  • Coenzyme A Ligases / genetics
  • Coenzyme A Ligases / metabolism
  • Fatty Acid Transport Proteins / genetics
  • Fatty Acid Transport Proteins / metabolism
  • Fatty Acids / metabolism*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal*
  • Lipid Metabolism / genetics
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Nucleotide Transport Proteins / genetics
  • Nucleotide Transport Proteins / metabolism
  • Peroxisomes / metabolism
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae / genetics
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae / metabolism*
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / genetics
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / metabolism*
  • Sequence Alignment
  • Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
  • Signal Transduction
  • Yarrowia / genetics
  • Yarrowia / metabolism*

Substances

  • ANT1 protein, S cerevisiae
  • ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters
  • FAT1 protein, S cerevisiae
  • Fatty Acid Transport Proteins
  • Fatty Acids
  • Nucleotide Transport Proteins
  • PXA1 protein, S cerevisiae
  • PXA2 protein, S cerevisiae
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins
  • Coenzyme A Ligases
  • Faa1 protein, S cerevisiae