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The effects of the Ncw2 protein of Saccharomyces cerevisiae on the positioning of chitin in response to cell wall damage

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Abstract

The recently described NCW2 gene encodes a protein that is assumed to be located in the cell wall (CW). This protein was proposed to participate in the repair of CW damages induced by polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB). However, much of the information on the biological function(s) of Ncw2p still remains unclear. In view of this, this study seeks to extend the analysis of this gene in light of the way its protein functions in the Cell Wall Integrity (CWI) mechanism. Deletion of the NCW2 gene led to constitutive overexpression of some key CWI genes and increased chitin deposition in the walls of cells exposed to PHMB. This means the lack of Ncw2p might activate a compensatory mechanism that upregulates glucan CWI genes for cell protection by stiffening the CW. This condition seems to alleviate the response through the HOG pathway and makes cells sensitive to osmotic stress. However, Ncw2p may not have been directly involved in tolerance to osmotic stress itself. The results obtained definitely place the NCW2 gene in the list of CWI genes of S. cerevisiae and indicate that its protein has an auxiliary function in the maintenance of the glucan/chitin balance and ensuring the correct structure of the yeast cell wall.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Prof. Andrea Harand, Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE, Brazil) for allowing us to make use of fluorescence microscopy and to Laboratoire Pareva (Saint Martin de Crau, France) for kindly providing the PHMB. This work was supported with grants from the Brazilian funding agencies FACEPE (Project APQ-1452–2.01/10) and CNPq (Project 472533/2013–4) and by the research support program of the Federal University of Pernambuco (Project 23076.021846/2012–47). MGQ was granted a PhD scholarship by the CAPES agency [Coordinated Body for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel] and CE was awarded a a post-doctoral fellowship by the PNPD/CAPES programme.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genetics, Federal University of Pernambuco, Av. Moraes Rego, 1235. Cidade Universitária, Recife, PE, 50.670-901, Brasil

    Maíse Gomes Queiroz, Carolina Elsztein & Marcos Antonio de Morais Jr.

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  1. Maíse Gomes Queiroz
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  2. Carolina Elsztein
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  3. Marcos Antonio de Morais Jr.
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MAMJ and CE designed the experiments. MGQ and CE carried out the experiments and analysed the data. MAMJ wrote the manuscript and MGQ and CE provided a critical review of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Marcos Antonio de Morais Jr..

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Queiroz, M.G., Elsztein, C. & de Morais, M.A. The effects of the Ncw2 protein of Saccharomyces cerevisiae on the positioning of chitin in response to cell wall damage. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 113, 265–277 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-019-01335-y

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