Appl. Environ. Microbiol. doi:10.1128/AEM.02843-06
Copyright (c) 2007, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.
Genome-wide screen for oxalate-sensitive mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae
V. Cheng,
H. U. Stotz,
K Hippchen,
and
A. T. Bakalinsky*
Department of Food Science and Technology, Wiegand Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331-6602; Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, Agricultural and Life Sciences Building, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR; Department of Horticulture, Agricultural and Life Sciences Building, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
 |
Abstract |
|---|
Oxalic acid is an important virulence factor produced by phytopathogenic filamentous fungi. In order to discover yeast genes whose orthologs in the pathogen may confer self-tolerance and whose plant orthologs may protect the host, a Saccharomyces cerevisiae deletion library consisting of 4,827 haploid mutants harboring deletions in non-essential genes was screened for growth inhibition and survival in a rich medium containing 30 mM oxalic acid at pH 3. A total of 31 mutants were identified that had significantly lower cell yields in oxalate medium relative to yields in an oxalate-free medium. About 35% of these mutants had not previously been detected in published screens for sensitivity to sorbic or citric acids. Mutants impaired in endosomal transport, rgp1
, ric1
, snf7
, vps16
, vps20
, and vps51
, were significantly overrepresented relative to their frequency among all verified yeast ORFs. Oxalate exposure to a subset of 5 mutants, drs2
, vps16
, vps51
, ric1
, and rib4
, was lethal. With the exception of rib4
, all of these mutants are impaired in vesicle-mediated transport. Indirect evidence is provided suggesting that the sensitivity of the rib4
mutant, a riboflavin auxotroph, is due to oxalate-mediated interference with riboflavin uptake by the putative monocarboxylate transporter Mch5.