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Genetics of trehalose biosynthesis in desert-derived Aureobasidium melanogenum and role of trehalose in the adaptation of the yeast to extreme environments

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Abstract

Melanin plays an important role in the stress adaptation of Aureobasidium melanogenum XJ5-1 isolated from the Taklimakan desert. A trehalose-6-phosphate synthase gene (TPS1 gene) was cloned from K5, characterized, and then deleted to determine the role of trehalose in the stress adaptation of the albino mutant K5. No stress response element and heat shock element were found in the promoter of the TPS1 gene. Deletion of the TPS1 gene in the albino mutant rendered a strain DT43 unable to synthesize any trehalose, but DT43 still could grow in glucose, suggesting that its hexokinase was insensitive to inhibition by trehalose-6-phosphate. Overexpression of the TPS1 gene enhanced trehalose biosynthesis in strain ET6. DT43 could not grow at 33 °C, whereas K5, ET6, and XJ5-1 could grow well at this temperature. Compared with K5 and ET6, DT43 was highly sensitive to heat shock treatment, high oxidation, and high desiccation, but all the three strains demonstrated the same sensitivity to UV light and high NaCl concentration. Therefore, trehalose played an important role in the adaptation of K5 to heat shock treatment, high oxidation, and high desiccation.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31561163001).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Yushan-Road, No. 5, Qingdao, China

    Hong Jiang, Guang-Lei Liu, Zhe Chi & Zhen-Ming Chi

  2. Department of Biology, Shantou University, Shantou, 515063, China

    Zhong Hu

  3. Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266003, China

    Guang-Lei Liu, Zhe Chi & Zhen-Ming Chi

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  1. Hong Jiang
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Correspondence to Zhen-Ming Chi.

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Communicated by M. Kupiec.

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Jiang, H., Liu, GL., Chi, Z. et al. Genetics of trehalose biosynthesis in desert-derived Aureobasidium melanogenum and role of trehalose in the adaptation of the yeast to extreme environments. Curr Genet 64, 479–491 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00294-017-0762-z

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