Lipid utilization and oxidative stress sensitivity of zinc cluster deletion strains in sacchromyces cerevisiae

Abstract

Sacchromyces cerev1s1ae has been widely used as a model organism for studying eukaryotic transcription. It can utilize a wide variety of carbon sources, such as glycerol, ethanol, and fatty acid for growth. Fatty acids are degraded through B-oxidation pathway in the peroxisome. Yeast cells can grow in aerobic conditions, which generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) as a by-product of cellular metabolism. Yeast cells have an oxidative stress defense system to protect themselves from oxidative damage by ROS. Many genes and proteins are associated with the B-oxidation process and oxidative stress defense systems. In S. cerevisiae, zinc cluster proteins form a major class of transcription regulators. However, some zinc cluster proteins still have unknown functions. To better understand the roles of some zinc cluster proteins of unknown function in S. cerevisiae, some zinc cluster deletion strains were selected for phenotypic analysis. Here, we examined the growth phenotype of zinc cluster deletion strains during growth on fatty acids or oils and in the presence of the oxidative agent menadione. The results show that FZP strain displayed impaired growth on fatty acids and oils tested. Moreover, this zinc cluster deletion strain is also sensitive to menadione. This result provides new knowledge about the role of zinc cluster proteins involved in lipid utilization and menadione stress response. Genetic engineering of yeast strains for over-expression of this protein may improve yeast cells for lipid production and tolerance to environmental stress.