Synergistic roles of the phospholipase B homolog Plb1 and the cAMP-dependent protein kinase Pka1 in the hypertonic stress response of Schizosaccharomyces pombe

The phospholipase B homolog Plb1 and the cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) pathway are required by fission yeast, also known as to Schizosaccharomyces pombe , to grow under KCl-stress conditions. Here, we report the relative contributions of Plb1 and the cAMP/PKA pathway during the hypertonic stress response. We show that the plb1∆ , cyr1∆ , and pka1∆ single mutants are sensitive to high concentrations of KCl but insensitive to sorbitol-induced osmotic stress. In contrast, the plb1∆ cyr1∆ and plb1∆ pka1∆ double mutants are hypersensitive to KCl and sorbitol. The cyr1∆ pka1∆ double mutants showed the same phenotype of each single mutant. Growth inhibition due to hypertonic stress in the plb1∆ , plb1∆ cyr1∆ , and plb1∆ pka1∆ strains was partially rescued by cgs1 deletion— cgs1∆ has constitutively active Pka1—or by the deletion of transcription factor Rst2, which is negatively regulated by Pka1. Pka1-GFP localized in the nucleus and cytoplasm in plb1∆ , whereas it is localized only in the cytoplasm in cyr1∆ , indicating that Plb1 does not regulate Pka1 localization. Glucose limitation downregulates the PKA pathway, and it was accordingly observed that glucose limitation in plb1∆ further increased the strain’s sensitivity to KCl. Growth inhibition by KCl in plb1∆ under glucose-limited conditions was significantly rescued by cgs1∆ and slightly rescued by rst2∆ . These findings indicate that, in fission yeast, Plb1 and the glucose-sensing cAMP/PKA pathway play a synergistic role in responding to hypertonic stress.