Involvement of Sac1 phosphoinositide phosphatase in the metabolism of phosphatidylserine in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Sac1 is a phosphoinositide phosphatase that preferentially dephosphorylates phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate. Mutation of SAC1 causes not only the accumulation of phosphoinositides but also reduction of the phosphatidylserine (PS) level in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In this study, we characterized the mechanism underlying the PS reduction in SAC1-deleted cells. Incorporation of ³²P into PS was significantly delayed in sac1{increment} cells. Such a delay was also observed in SAC1- and PS decarboxylase gene-deleted cells, suggesting that the reduction in the PS level is caused by a reduction in the rate of biosynthesis of PS. A reduction in the PS level was also observed with repression of STT4 encoding phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase or deletion of VPS34 encoding phophatidylinositol 3-kinase. However, the combination of mutations of SAC1 and STT4 or VPS34 did not restore the reduced PS level, suggesting that both the synthesis and degradation of phosphoinositides are important for maintenance of the PS level. Finally, we observed an abnormal PS distribution in sac1{increment} cells when a specific probe for PS was expressed. Collectively, these results suggested that Sac1 is involved in the maintenance of a normal rate of biosynthesis and distribution of PS.