Open AccessA Kluyveromyces lactis mutant in the essential gene KlLSM4 shows phenotypic markers of apoptosis
Author(s) -
Mazzoni Cristina,
Mancini Patrizia,
Madeo Frank,
Palermo Vanessa,
Falcone Claudio
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
fems yeast research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.991
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1567-1364
pISSN - 1567-1356
DOI - 10.1016/s1567-1356(03)00151-x
Subject(s) - biology , kluyveromyces lactis , rna splicing , gene , mutant , saccharomyces cerevisiae , microbiology and biotechnology , messenger rna , chromatin , alternative splicing , phenotype , rna , apoptosis , genetics
We report the study of Kluyveromyces lactis cells expressing a truncated form of KlLSM4 , a gene ortholog to LSM4 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae which encodes an essential protein involved in both pre‐mRNA splicing and mRNA decapping. We had previously demonstrated that the first 72 amino acids of the K. lactis Lsm4p (KlLsm4Δp) can restore cell growth in both K. lactis and S. cerevisiae cells not expressing the endogenous protein. However, cells showed a remarkable loss of viability in stationary phase. Here we report that cells expressing KlLsm4Δp presented clear apoptotic markers such as chromatin condensation, DNA fragmentation, accumulation of reactive oxygen species, and showed increased sensitivity to different drugs. RNA analysis revealed that pre‐mRNA splicing was almost normal while mRNA degradation was significantly delayed, pointing to this as the possible step responsible for the observed phenotypes.