The glyoxylate shunt is essential for desiccation tolerance in C. elegans and budding yeast

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Abstract

Many organisms, including species from all kingdoms of life, can survive desiccation by entering a state with no detectable metabolism. To survive, C. elegans dauer larvae and stationary phase S. cerevisiae require elevated amounts of the disaccharide trehalose. We found that that dauer larvae and stationary phase yeast switched into a gluconeogenic mode in which metabolism was reoriented toward production of sugars from non-carbohydrate sources. This mode depended on full activity of the glyoxylate shunt (GS), which enables synthesis of trehalose from acetate. The GS was especially critical during preparation of worms for harsh desiccation (preconditioning) and during the entry of yeast into stationary phase. Loss of the GS dramatically decreased desiccation tolerance in both organisms. Our results reveal a novel physiological role for the GS and elucidate a conserved metabolic rewiring that confers desiccation tolerance on organisms as diverse as worm and yeast.

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Cihan Erkut

Structural and Computational Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Vamshidhar R Gade

Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Sunil Laxman

Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Bangalore, India

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Teymuras V Kurzchalia

Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany

For correspondence
kurzchalia@mpi-cbg.de

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

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