Transformations of membrane-bound organelles in sec 14 mutants of the yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Yarrowia lipolytica.

Background: In early descriptions of ultrastructural alterations of secretory (sec) mutants of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, two mutants, sec7 and sec14, were shown to produce cell structures, the so-called Berkeley bodies thought at first to correspond to Golgi structures. In sec7 mutants grown at restrictive temperature, secretion granules soon dis-appeared, whereas networks of Golgi tubules increased in size and transformed into stacks of seven to eight flattened elements. At these time intervals, structures resembling Berkeley bodies appeared to be extensions of the endoplasmic reticulum (Rambourg et al., 1993). It is the purpose of the present study to examine by electron microscopy S. cerevisiae sec14 mutants and to compare the modifications along their secretory pathway with those occurring in a homologous mutant of Yarrowia lipolytica.

Methods: S. cerevisiae sec 14 mutant cells coming from exponentially growing cultures were examined either at 24 degrees C or after shifting at 37 degrees C for 0, 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 45, 60, 90, and 120 min. Y. lipolytica mutant cells were first cultured in YNB in 5000 medium and then transferred for 0, 6, 8, 12, 20, and 24 hr, in a phosphate-buffered YPD medium, which allows wild cells to differentiate from yeast to mycelian form. In both cases, cells were fixed in 2% glutaraldehyde, treated for 15 min in 1% sodium metaperiodate, post-fixed in reduced osmium, and embedded in Epon. To visualize the three-dimensional configuration of cell organelles, stereopairs were prepared from section stained with lead citrate and tilted at +/- 15 degrees from the 0 degree position of the goniometric stage of the electron microscope.

Results: In S. cerevisiae mutant cells shifted for 2 min at the restrictive temperature, faintly stained networks of thin anastomosed tubules were located at close proximity and often continuous with faintly stained ER cisternae. More intensely stained tubular networks with nodular dilations having the size of secretion granules were dispersed throughout the cytoplasm. Later on, the faintly stained ER elements and related tubular networks decreased in number, whereas the intensely stained nodular tubular networks increased in frequency. The incidence of secretion granules also increased and were distributed at random throughout the cytoplasm. Widemeshed, intensely stained fenestrated spheres were often encountered and increased in number, in parallel to the increase in the number of nodular tubular networks. At late time intervals, the fenestrated spheres decreased in number as they seemingly transformed into spherical bodies identical to vacuoles. In contrast to what occurred in S. cerevisiae sec14 mutant, the main ultrastructural modification observed in Y. lipolytica transferred to the YPD medium was the formation of deep plasma membrane invaginations.

Conclusions: It appears that two functionally homologous PI/PC transfer proteins (Sec14psc and Sec14pyl) control distinct physiological processes in the two sec14 mutants examined. Such differences are perhaps related to the regulatory role of these proteins in different target organelles, i.e., the Golgi apparatus in S. cerevisiae or the plasma membrane in Y. lipolytica.