title: New insights into sulfur metabolism in yeasts as revealed by studies of Yarrowia lipolytica.
abstract: Yarrowia lipolytica, located at the frontier of hemiascomycetous yeasts and fungi, is an excellent candidate for studies of metabolism evolution. This yeast, widely recognized for its technological applications, in particular produces volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) that fully contribute to the flavor of smear cheese. We report here a relevant global vision of sulfur metabolism in Y. lipolytica based on a comparison between high- and low-sulfur source supplies (sulfate, methionine, or cystine) by combined approaches (transcriptomics, metabolite profiling, and VSC analysis). The strongest repression of the sulfate assimilation pathway was observed in the case of high methionine supply, together with a large accumulation of sulfur intermediates. A high sulfate supply seems to provoke considerable cellular stress via sulfite production, resulting in a decrease of the availability of the glutathione pathway's sulfur intermediates. The most limited effect was observed for the cystine supply, suggesting that the intracellular cysteine level is more controlled than that of methionine and sulfate. Using a combination of metabolomic profiling and genetic experiments, we revealed taurine and hypotaurine metabolism in yeast for the first time. On the basis of a phylogenetic study, we then demonstrated that this pathway was lost by some of the hemiascomycetous yeasts during evolution.
authors.affiliation: UMR MICALIS, INRA, AgroParisTech, CBAI, Thiverval Grignon, France.
authors.forename: Agnès
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hébert
authors.forename: Marie-Pierre
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Forquin-Gomez
authors.forename: Aurélie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Roux
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Aubert
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Junot
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Heilier
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Landaud
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bonnarme
authors.forename: Jean-Marie
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Beckerich
mesh_terms: D003545:Cysteine / Q000378:metabolism; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal / Q000187:drug effects; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways / Q000235:genetics; D055442:Metabolome; D008715:Methionine / Q000378:metabolism; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D013431:Sulfates / Q000378:metabolism; D013455:Sulfur / Q000378:metabolism*; D059467:Transcriptome; D025062:Yarrowia / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D013431:Sulfates; D013455:Sulfur; D008715:Methionine; D003545:Cysteine