Phosphoregulation of the transcription factor Mxr1 plays a crucial role in the concentration-regulated methanol induction in Komagataella phaffii

Abstract

Methylotrophic yeasts can utilize methanol as the sole carbon and energy source, and the expression of their methanol-induced genes is regulated based on the environmental methanol concentration. Our understanding of the function of transcription factors and Wsc family of proteins in methanol-induced gene expression and methanol sensing is expanding, but the methanol signal transduction mechanism remains undetermined. Our study has revealed that the transcription factor KpMxr1 is involved in the concentration-regulated methanol induction (CRMI) in Komagataella phaffii (Pichia pastoris) and that the phosphorylation state of KpMxr1 changes based on methanol concentration. We identified the functional regions of KpMxr1 and determined its multiple phosphorylation sites. Non-phosphorylatable substitution mutations of these newly identified phosphorylated threonine and serine residues resulted in significant defects in CRMI. We revealed that KpMxr1 receives the methanol signal from Wsc family proteins via KpPkc1 independent of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade and speculate that the activity of KpPkc1 influences KpMxr1 phosphorylation state. We propose that the CRMI pathway from Wsc to KpMxr1 diverges from KpPkc1 and that phosphoregulation of KpMxr1 plays a crucial role in CRMI.