Cell Stress by Phosphate of Two Protozoa Tetrahymena thermophila and Tetrahymena pyriformis

Abstract

Phosphorus is one of the bioelements most needed as a compound cell by living organisms. Phosphorus is involved in several pathologies: in human with bone and kidney diseases, in mammals with metabolism disorder (glucose, insulin¿¿¿), in microorganisms whose phosphorus is involved in cell growth. Phosphorus has various forms including pyrophosphate, a by-product of multiple pathways of biosynthesis. Enzymes that hydrolyze pyrophosphate are called inorganic pyrophosphatases (PPases). Two major types of inorganic pyrophosphatases are distinguished: the soluble pyrophosphatases (sPPases) and the membrane pyrophosphatases (mPPases or H+/Na+-PPases). They play a key role in the control of intracellular inorganic pyrophosphate level and produce an important ions gradient (H+ or Na+) to the cells. In this work, we primarily focused on the physiological study in a phosphate-poor medium of two models Tetrahymena thermophila and Tetrahymena pyriformis , following the mobility, the growth and the morphology of cells. Secondly, we evaluated the enzymatic activity of soluble and membrane pyrophosphatases in both species grown in the same complex medium. A decrease of cell growth is correlated with unusual morphologies and different mobility in the stress medium. The measurement of soluble and membrane inorganic pyrophosphatases activities also shows a decrease which illustrates the lack of phosphate found in the stress medium. Deficiency of phosphate is a limiting factor for protozoan growth. These results indicate that Tetrahymena can be used as a model of cellular stress and consists of a target to study inorganic pyrophosphatases for a better understanding of phosphate cycle in higher organisms.