Study could help to defend humans and crops from yeast infection

Date:
March 1, 2022
Source:
University of Strathclyde
Summary:
Clues to the mechanism of yeast infections, which present risks
to both humans and crops, have been identified in new research.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Clues to the mechanism of yeast infections, which present risks to
both humans and crops, have been identified in research co-led at the University of Strathclyde.


==========================================================================
The study has focused on a family of proteins, known as Mep-Amt-Rh,
which enable them to transport ammonium, a significant compound involved
in growth and differentiation of yeasts.

Three proteins of the family are found in baker's yeast but only one of
these, Mep2, is capable of triggering filamentation, the process of cell
growth which can lead to infection by pathogenic fungi.

The research has discovered that variations in Mep-Amt-Rh proteins affect
the specificity and the type of mechanism for transporting ammonium. When
two mechanisms co-exist within Mep2, they disrupt the signalling function
which brings about filamentation and impede its progress.

The research could improve understanding of yeast infection in both
humans and crop plants, enabling better defence against its effects.

The collaborative research was led by Dr Arnaud Javelle at Strathclyde, Professor Anna Maria Marini and Professor Me'lanie Boeckstaens at the Universite' Libre de Bruxelles and Professor Ulrich Zachariae at the
University of Dundee. It has been published in the journal mBio.



==========================================================================
Dr Javelle, of Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences,
said: "Pathogenic yeasts represent a significant threat to human health
and wellbeing. This can be direct, with yeast infection causing sickness
or even death in humans, or indirect, through infection of crop plants
severely limiting production and resulting in food shortages.

"According to a Nature Microbiology editorial published in 2017, more
than 300 million people suffer from serious fungal-related diseases and
fungi collectively kill over 1.6 million people annually, which is more
than malaria and similar to the tuberculosis death toll. Fungi and the oomycetes organism destroy a third of all food crops each year, which
would be sufficient to feed 600 million people.

"Our work brings new light to the understanding of the contribution
of ammonium transporters to fungal pathogenicity and may help manage
infection in the future." Dr Gordon Williamson, one of the lead authors
from Dr Javelle's laboratory, said: "This work exemplifies the need
for collaborative and multi-disciplinary approach when trying to build understanding of these complex molecular machines." The research
about filamentation process considered a particular infection,
Candidiasis, caused by the fungal species named Candida, which is
widely recognised as a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the
healthcare environment. The attributable mortality among all patients
with bloodstream infection may be 10-20%, with the risk of death being
closely related to increasing age.

The research groups are pursuing several follow-up projects, including translating their research to the human Rhesus proteins. Aside from their
well- known role in blood-typing, malfunction of mammalian Rhesus proteins
has also been associated with a range of diseases, from haemolytic anemia
to reduction in male fertility and early-onset depressive disorders. It
is hoped that the results of this work could form the basis of future therapeutic development.

Researchers in the project received funding from Tenovus Scotland, the
Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, the Natural Environment Research Council, the Fund for Scientific Research, WELBIO (Walloon Excellence
in Life Sciences and Biotechnology) and the Brachet Funds.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Strathclyde. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Gordon Williamson, Ana Sofia Brito, Adriana Bizior, Giulia
Tamburrino,
Gae"tan Dias Mirandela, Thomas Harris, Paul A. Hoskisson, Ulrich
Zachariae, Anna Maria Marini, Me'lanie Boeckstaens, Arnaud Javelle.

Coexistence of Ammonium Transporter and Channel Mechanisms
in Amt-Mep-Rh Twin-His Variants Impairs the Filamentation
Signaling Capacity of Fungal Mep2 Transceptors. mBio, 2022; DOI:
10.1128/mbio.02913-21 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220301131138.htm

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