Abstract
Cell division produces two viable cells of a defined size. Thus, all cells require mechanisms to measure growth and trigger cell division when sufficient growth has occurred. Previous data suggest a model in which growth rate and cell size are mechanistically linked by ceramide-dependent signals in budding yeast. However, the conservation of mechanisms that govern growth control is poorly understood. In fission yeast, ceramide synthase is encoded by two genes, Lac1 and Lag1. Here, we characterize them by using a combination of genetics, microscopy, and lipid analysis. We showed that Lac1 and Lag1 co-immunoprecipitate and co-localize at the endoplasmic reticulum. However, each protein generates different species of ceramides and complex sphingolipids. We further discovered that Lac1, but not Lag1, is specifically required for proper control of cell growth and size in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. We propose that specific ceramide and sphingolipid species produced by Lac1 are required for normal control of cell growth and size in fission yeast.
Highlights
Received: 26 November 2021Growth is a common characteristic shared by all organisms
Ceramide synthase has been studied extensively in budding yeast, but little is known about ceramide synthase in fission yeast [8,9,10,13,27,30]
We present new data suggesting that the production of specific ceramide species is implicated in normal control of cell growth and size control in fission yeast
Summary
Received: 26 November 2021Growth is a common characteristic shared by all organisms. Mechanisms of growth control are responsible for generating the extraordinary diversity of cell sizes and shapes present in nature. Growth control has recently been linked to production of ceramide lipids, which are generated from sphingolipids [5]. Sphingolipids are composed of a ceramide backbone that consists of a C18 long-chain base (LCB) bound to a fatty acid via an amide linkage. Ceramide synthase is composed of three different subunits, namely Lac, Lag, and the regulatory subunit Lip1 [8,9,10]. Both Lac and Lag catalyze N-acylation of DHS or PHS to a C26 fatty acid, producing dihydroceramide (DHCer, or Cer-A) or phytoceramide (PHCer or Cer-B)
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