Evidence for the interplay between trehalose metabolism and Hsp104 in yeast.

Disruption of the HSP104 gene in a mutant which cannot accumulate trehalose during heat shock treatment caused trehalose accumulation (H. Iwahashi, K. Obuchi, S. Fujii, and Y. Komatsu, Lett. Appl. Microbiol 25:43-47, 1997). This implies that Hsp104 affects trehalose metabolism. Thus, we measured the activities of enzymes involved in trehalose metabolism. The activities of trehalose-synthesizing and -hydrolyzing enzymes are low in the HSP104 disruption mutant during heat shock. This data is correlated with intracellular trehalose and glucose levels observed in the HSP104 disruption mutant. These results suggest that during heat shock, Hsp104 contributes to the simultaneous increase in both accumulation and degradation of trehalose.