Adaptive response of Schizosaccharomyces pombe to hydrogen peroxide and menadione

• Published in: Microbiology (Society for General Microbiology) Vol. 141; no. 12; pp. 3127 - 3132
• Main Authors: Lee, Joon, Dawes, Ian W, Roe, Jung-Hye
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Reading Soc General Microbiol 01.12.1995; Society for General Microbiology
• Subjects: Action of physical and chemical agents; Adaptation, Physiological; Antioxidants - metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; Catalase - biosynthesis; Enzyme Induction - drug effects; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Glucosephosphate Dehydrogenase - biosynthesis; Glutathione - metabolism; Glutathione Reductase - biosynthesis; Hydrogen Peroxide - pharmacology; Microbiology; Mycology; Oxidative Stress - physiology; Peroxidases - biosynthesis; Schizosaccharomyces - drug effects; Schizosaccharomyces - growth & development; Schizosaccharomyces - metabolism; Schizosaccharomyces pombe; Superoxide Dismutase - biosynthesis; Vitamin K - pharmacology; Oxidative stress; Glucose-6-phosphate 1-dehydrogenase; Yeast; Menadione; Enzyme; Glutathione reductase (NADPH); Superoxide dismutase; Oxidant; Hydrogen Peroxides; Survival; Fungi; Resistance; Peroxidases; Catalase; Schizosaccharomyces pombe; Ascomycetes; Peroxidase; Oxidoreductases; Thallophyta; Adaptation
• ISSN: 1350-0872; 1465-2080
• DOI: 10.1099/13500872-141-12-3127

Department of Microbiology, College of Natural Sciences and Research Center for Molecular Microbiology, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea School of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia Tel: + 82 2 880 6706. Fax: +82 2 888 4911. e-mail: jhroe@alliant.snu.ac.kr ABSTRACT The response of Schizosaccharomyces pombe to oxidative stresses has been examined. On challenging Schiz. pombe for 60 min at early exponential phase with either 40 mM H 2 O 2 or 6 mM menadione (MD), a superoxide-generating agent, less than 10% of the cells survived. Pretreating Schiz. pombe cells with 0.2 mM H 2 O 2 or 0.2 mM MD for 1 h significantly increased survival of these lethal doses of each oxidant, indicating the existence of an adaptive response to oxidative stress. Furthermore, cells pretreated with a low dose of MD became resistant to a lethal dose of H 2 O 2 . However, cells pretreated with H 2 O 2 became only partially resistant to a lethal dose of MD. Adaptation was accompanied by the induction of several oxidative defence enzymes. The presence of 0/2 mM H 2 O 2 induced catalase by 2.8-fold and peroxidase by 2.0-fold. The presence of 0.2 mM MD induced catalase by 2.0-fold, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase by 1.9-fold, glutathione reductase by 2.7-fold, peroxidase by 3.0-fold, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) by 2.1-fold. The higher induction of these defence enzymes by MD may explain why MD-pretreated cells were better adapted to lethal doses of oxidants than H 2 O 2 -pretreated ones. All these enzymes except SOD and peroxidase increased more than 5.0-fold as cells proceeded into stationary phase. The GSH/GSSG ratio also increased by 60%. These changes accord with the observation that stationary phase cells survive oxidant treatment better than cells in vegetative growth. Keywords: Schizosaccharomyces pombe , oxidative stress, hydrogen peroxide, menadione, adaptive response