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Mitochondrial carriers of Ustilago maydis and Aspergillus terreus involved in itaconate production: same physiological role but different biochemical features
Author(s) -
Scarcia Pasquale,
Gorgoglione Ruggiero,
Messina Eugenia,
Fiermonte Giuseppe,
Blank Lars Mathias,
Wierckx Nick,
Palmieri Luigi,
Agrimi Gennaro
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1002/1873-3468.13645
Subject(s) - ustilago , itaconic acid , aspergillus terreus , mitochondrial carrier , fermentation , biochemistry , biology , cytosol , subfamily , mitochondrion , microbiology and biotechnology , chemistry , gene , polymer , enzyme , organic chemistry , escherichia coli , bacterial outer membrane , copolymer
Itaconic acid (IA) is a naturally occurring dicarboxylic acid with applications in the manufacture of polymers. IA can be produced by fermentation using the fungi Aspergillus terreus or Ustilago maydis as biocatalysts. Indirect evidence has suggested that the mitochondrial carriers U. maydis Um_Mtt1 and A. terreus At_MttA export mitochondrially synthesized cis‐aconitate to the cytosol for IA synthesis using malate as a countersubstrate. Here, by assaying the transport features of recombinant Um_Mtt1 and At_MttA in reconstituted liposomes, we find that both proteins efficiently transport cis‐aconitate, but malate is well transported only by Um_Mtt1 and 2‐oxoglutarate only by At_MttA. Bioinformatic analysis shows that Um_Mtt1 and At_MttA form a distinctive mitochondrial carrier subfamily. Our data show that although fulfilling the same physiological task, Um_Mtt1 and At_MttA have different biochemical features.