TREHALOSE-6-P SYNTHASE IS DISPENSABLE FOR GROWTH ON GLUCOSE BUT NOT FOR SPORE GERMINATION IN SCHIZOSACCHAROMYCES-POMBE

Trehalose-6-P inhibits hexokinases in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (M. A. Blazquez, R. Lagunas, C. Gancedo, and J. M. Gancedo FEBS Lett. 329:51-54, 1993), and disruption of the TPS1 gene (formerly named CIF1 or FDP1) encoding trehalose-6-P synthase prevents growth in glucose. We have found that the hexokinase from Schizosaccharomyces pombe is not inhibited by trehalose-6-P even at a concentration of 3 mM. The highest internal concentration of trehalose-6-P that we measured in S. pombe was 0.75 mM after heat shock. We have isolated from S. pombe the tps1(+) gene, which is homologous to the Saccharomyces cerevisiae TPS1 gene. The DNA sequence from tps1(+) predicts a protein of 479 amino acids with 65% identity with the protein of S. cerevisiae. The tps1(+) gene expressed from its own promoter could complement the lack of trehalose-6-P synthase in S. cerevisiae tps1 mutants. The TPS1 gene from S. cerevisiae could also restore trehalose synthesis in S. pombe tps1 mutants. A chromosomal disruption of the tps1(+) gene in S. pome did not have a noticeable effect on growth in glucose, in contrast with the disruption of TPS1 in S. cerevisiae. However, the disruption prevented germination of spores carrying it. The level of an RNA hybridizing with an internal probe of the tps1(+) gene reached a maximum after 20 min of heat shock treatment. The results presented support the idea that trehalose-6-P plays a role in the control of glycolysis in S. cerevisiae but not in S. pombe and show that the trehalose pathway has different roles in the two yeast species.