Inhibitory Activity of 1-Farnesylpyridinium on the Spatial Control over the Assembly of Cell Wall Polysaccharides in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

Abstract

The modes of actions of 1-farnesylpyridinium (FPy) on yeast cell growth were investigated on the basis of its effects on cell cycle progression, morphogenesis and the related events for construction of cell wall architecture in Schizosacchromyces pombe. FPy predominantly inhibited the growth of the yeast cells after various cycles of cell division so that cells were arrested at the phase of separation into daughter cells accompanying morphological changes to swollen spherical cells at 24 h of incubation. FPy-treated cells were osmotically stable but were susceptible to the lytic action of (1, 3) beta-D-glucanases, and characterized by serious damages to the cell wall architecture as represented by a rough and irregular surface outlook. The isolated cell wall fraction gave a similar hexose composition with or without FPy treatment, suggesting that FPy did not inhibit the synthesis of each cell wall polysaccharide. FPy was permissive for the extracellular accumulation of amorphous cell wall materials and septum development in protoplasts, but absolutely interfered with the following morphogenetic process for construction of the rod-shaped cell wall architecture. Our results suggest the inhibitory activity of FPy on the spatial control over the assembly of cell wall polysaccharides.

Isolation of a Copper-resistant Sake Yeast Mutant with Improved Flavour Compound Production

“…FPy was originally synthesized as a derivative of isoprenoid farnesol, a typical apoptosis-inducing agent in mammalian cells 5,9,10 . Such a structural modification of farnesol resulted in a marked elevation of apoptosis-inducing activity against human leukemia HL-60 cells, as well as growth inhibitory activity against the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe 3,4 . It is still unknown how the FPy-resistant phenotype of strain A1 is related to the elevation of AATase.…”