2026-09-14 理化学研究所,東京大学,広島大学
野生株から細胞外に放出されて周囲の遺伝子破壊株の生育を支えるグルタチオン
＜関連情報＞
- https://www.riken.jp/press/2026/20260914_2/index.html
- https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/msystems.00123-26
グルタチオンは、アミノ酸代謝と細胞極性に欠陥のある分裂酵母の成長回復を促進する外代謝産物として作用する Glutathione acts as an exometabolite that promotes growth recovery in fission yeast with defects in amino acid metabolism and cell polarity
Ryotaro Yoshizumi, Shunichi Miura, Hiroaki Matoba, Go Hirai, Shumpei Asamizu, Hiroyasu Onaka, Yoko Yashiroda, Akihisa Matsuyama, Minoru Yoshida, Shinichi Nishimura
mSystems Published:14 September 2026
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1128/msystems.00123-26
ABSTRACT
Microorganisms in nature form communities through diverse interactions, such as mutualism and competition, to adapt to their ecological environments. These interactions seem to be mediated by extracellular metabolites (exometabolites), yet the chemical and biological diversity underlying these processes remains largely unexplored. In this study, we examined the chemical basis of exometabolite-mediated interactions in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe by a genome-wide screen employing 3,420 viable gene deletion mutants. We identified 37 strains that exhibited growth defects in monoculture on a minimal medium but exhibited growth recovery in the vicinity of wild-type colonies (co-culture), suggesting that exometabolites derived from wild-type cells compensated for the gene deletion. Both lipophilic and water-soluble fractions obtained by solvent partitioning of the wild-type culture supernatant promoted growth recovery. Among the 11 mutants rescued by the water-soluble fraction, 6 were cysteine auxotrophs, prompting analyses of thiol-containing metabolites by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), revealing the presence of glutathione (GSH) in the culture supernatant. GSH restored growth in most strains as a nutrient source. In contrast, GSH rescued cell morphology defects in the hob3∆ mutant, lacking the Bin/amphiphysin/Rvs (BAR) adaptor protein Hob3, through a mechanism independent of nutrition. This research advances understanding of exometabolite-mediated interactions in S. pombe by identifying GSH as an exometabolite that influences cellular processes and potentially shapes microbial communities.
