Stress Responses of Catalse, Glutathione S-transferase and Thioltransferase in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

Stress Responses of Catalse, Glutathione S-transferase and Thioltransferase in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

Various stresses such as high temperature (40°C), hydrogen peroxide (1.5 mM), mercuric chloride (0.3 mM), or cadmium chloride (0.3 mM) were put on exponentially grown Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Then, activities of catalase, thioltransferase, and glutathione S-transferase were determined and compared with those of control cultures. Catalase activity increased significantly upon treatments with high temperature, hydrogen peroxide or cadmium chloride, whereas it decreased greatly by mercuric chloride. Thioltransferase activity decreased 9 hours after each treatment. Activity of glutathione S-transferase was observed to be markedly increased with the treatment of the heavy metals. The results indicate that the enzyme activities are closely linked to stress response.