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The catabolism of methionine to methionol and methanethiol in Saccharomyces cerevisiae was studied using (13)C NMR spectroscopy, GC-MS, enzyme assays and a number of mutants. Methionine is first transaminated to alpha-keto-gamma-(methylthio)butyrate. Methionol is formed by a decarboxylation reaction, which yields methional, followed by reduction. The decarboxylation is effected specifically by Ydr380wp. Methanethiol is formed from both methionine and alpha-keto-gamma-(methylthio)butyrate by a demethiolase activity. In all except one strain examined, demethiolase was induced by the presence of methionine in the growth medium. This pathway results in the production of alpha-ketobutyrate, a carbon skeleton, which can be re-utilized. Hence, methionine catabolism is more complex and economical than the other amino acid catabolic pathways in yeast, which use the Ehrlich pathway and result solely in the formation of a fusel alcohol.

We identify amino acid variants within dominant SARS-CoV-2 T cell epitopes by interrogating global sequence data. Several variants within nucleocapsid and ORF3a epitopes have arisen independently in multiple lineages and result in loss of recognition by epitope-specific T cells assessed by IFN-g and cytotoxic killing assays. Complete loss of T cell responsiveness was seen due to Q213K in the A*01:01-restricted CD8+ ORF3a epitope FTSDYYQLY 207-215 ; due to P13L, P13S, and P13T in the B*27:05-restricted CD8+ nucleocapsid epitope QRNAP-RITF 9-17 ; and due to T362I and P365S in the A*03:01/A*11:01-restricted CD8+ nucleocapsid epitope KTFPPTEPK 361-369 . CD8+ T cell lines unable to recognize variant epitopes have diverse T cell receptor repertoires. These data demonstrate the potential for T cell evasion and highlight the need for ongoing surveillance for variants capable of escaping T cell as well as humoral immunity.

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