Bioinformatic Characterization of P-Type ATPases Encoded Within the Fully Sequenced Genomes of 26 Eukaryotes

P-type ATPases play essential roles in numerous processes, which in humans include nerve impulse propagation, relaxation of muscle fibers, secretion and absorption in the kidney, acidification of the stomach and nutrient absorption in the intestine. Published evidence suggests that uncharacterized families of P-type ATPases with novel specificities exist. In this study, the fully sequenced genomes of 26 eukaryotes, including animals, plants, fungi and unicellular eukaryotes, were analyzed for P-type ATPases. We report the organismal distributions, phylogenetic relationships, probable topologies and conserved motifs of nine functionally characterized families and 13 uncharacterized families of these enzyme transporters. We have classified these proteins according to the conventions of the functional and phylogenetic IUBMB-approved transporter classification system (www.tcdb.org, Saier et al. in Nucleic Acids Res 34:181–186, 2006; Nucleic Acids Res 37:274–278, 2009)

A Putative Plant Aminophospholipid Flippase, the Arabidopsis P4 ATPase ALA1, Localizes to the Plasma Membrane following Association with a β-Subunit

Plasma membranes in eukaryotic cells display asymmetric lipid distributions with aminophospholipids concentrated in the inner leaflet and sphingolipids in the outer leaflet. This unequal distribution of lipids between leaflets is, amongst several proposed functions, hypothesized to be a prerequisite for endocytosis. P4 ATPases, belonging to the P-type ATPase superfamily of pumps, are involved in establishing lipid asymmetry across plasma membranes, but P4 ATPases have not been identified in plant plasma membranes. Here we report that the plant P4 ATPase ALA1, which previously has been connected with cold tolerance of Arabidopsis thaliana, is targeted to the plasma membrane and does so following association in the endoplasmic reticulum with an ALIS protein β-subunit

The yeast P5 type ATPase, Spf1, regulates manganese transport into the endoplasmic reticulum

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a large, multifunctional and essential organelle. Despite intense research, the function of more than a third of ER proteins remains unknown even in the well-studied model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae. One such protein is Spf1, which is a highly conserved, ER localized, putative P-type ATPase. Deletion of SPF1 causes a wide variety of phenotypes including severe ER stress suggesting that this protein is essential for the normal function of the ER. The closest homologue of Spf1 is the vacuolar P-type ATPase Ypk9 that influences Mn2+ homeostasis. However in vitro reconstitution assays with Spf1 have not yielded insight into its transport specificity. Here we took an in vivo approach to detect the direct and indirect effects of deleting SPF1. We found a specific reduction in the luminal concentration of Mn2+ in ∆spf1 cells and an increase following it’s overexpression. In agreement with the observed loss of luminal Mn2+ we could observe concurrent reduction in many Mn2+-related process in the ER lumen. Conversely, cytosolic Mn2+-dependent processes were increased. Together, these data support a role for Spf1p in Mn2+ transport in the cell. We also demonstrate that the human sequence homologue, ATP13A1, is a functionally conserved orthologue. Since ATP13A1 is highly expressed in developing neuronal tissues and in the brain, this should help in the study of Mn2+-dependent neurological disorders

P5A-Type ATPase Cta4p Is Essential for Ca2+ Transport in the Endoplasmic Reticulum of Schizosaccharomyces pombe

This study establishes the role of P5A-type Cta4 ATPase in Ca2+ sequestration in the endoplasmic reticulum by detecting an ATP-dependent, vanadate-sensitive and FCCP insensitive 45Ca2+-transport in fission yeast membranes isolated by cellular fractionation. Specifically, the Ca2+-ATPase transport activity was decreased in ER membranes isolated from cells lacking a cta4+ gene. Furthermore, a disruption of cta4+ resulted in 6-fold increase of intracellular Ca2+ levels, sensitivity towards accumulation of misfolded proteins in ER and ER stress, stimulation of the calcineurin phosphatase activity and vacuolar Ca2+ pumping. These data provide compelling biochemical evidence for a P5A-type Cta4 ATPase as an essential component of Ca2+ transport system and signaling network which regulate, in conjunction with calcineurin, the ER functionality in fission yeast

Comparative molecular biological analysis of membrane transport genes in organisms

Comparative analyses of membrane transport genes revealed many differences in the features of transport homeostasis in eight diverse organisms, ranging from bacteria to animals and plants. In bacteria, membrane-transport systems depend mainly on single genes encoding proteins involved in an ATP-dependent pump and secondary transport proteins that use H+ as a co-transport molecule. Animals are especially divergent in their channel genes, and plants have larger numbers of P-type ATPase and secondary active transporters than do other organisms. The secondary transporter genes have diverged evolutionarily in both animals and plants for different co-transporter molecules. Animals use Na+ ions for the formation of concentration gradients across plasma membranes, dependent on secondary active transporters and on membrane voltages that in turn are dependent on ion transport regulation systems. Plants use H+ ions pooled in vacuoles and the apoplast to transport various substances; these proton gradients are also dependent on secondary active transporters. We also compared the numbers of membrane transporter genes in Arabidopsis and rice. Although many transporter genes are similar in these plants, Arabidopsis has a more diverse array of genes for multi-efflux transport and for response to stress signals, and rice has more secondary transporter genes for carbohydrate and nutrient transport

Evolution of metal hyperaccumulation required cis-regulatory changes and triplication of HMA4

Little is known about the types of mutations underlying the evolution of species-specific traits. The metal hyperaccumulator Arabidopsis halleri has the rare ability to colonize heavy-metal-polluted soils, and, as an extremophile sister species of Arabidopsis thaliana, it is a powerful model for research on adaptation. A. halleri naturally accumulates and tolerates leaf concentrations as high as 2.2% zinc and 0.28% cadmium in dry biomass. On the basis of transcriptomics studies, metal hyperaccumulation in A. halleri has been associated with more than 30 candidate genes that are expressed at higher levels in A. halleri than in A. thaliana. Some of these genes have been genetically mapped to broad chromosomal segments of between 4 and 24 cM co-segregating with Zn and Cd hypertolerance. However, the in planta loss-of-function approaches required to demonstrate the contribution of a given candidate gene to metal hyperaccumulation or hypertolerance have not been pursued to date. Using RNA interference to downregulate HMA4 (HEAVY METAL ATPASE 4) expression, we show here that Zn hyperaccumulation and full hypertolerance to Cd and Zn in A. halleri depend on the metal pump HMA4. Contrary to a postulated global trans regulatory factor governing high expression of numerous metal hyperaccumulation genes, we demonstrate that enhanced expression of HMA4 in A. halleri is attributable to a combination of modified cis-regulatory sequences and copy number expansion, in comparison to A. thaliana. Transfer of an A. halleri HMA4 gene to A. thaliana recapitulates Zn partitioning into xylem vessels and the constitutive transcriptional upregulation of Zn deficiency response genes characteristic of Zn hyperaccumulators. Our results demonstrate the importance of cis-regulatory mutations and gene copy number expansion in the evolution of a complex naturally selected extreme trait. The elucidation of a natural strategy for metal hyperaccumulation enables the rational design of technologies for the clean-up of metal-contaminated soils and for bio-fortification