Effect of zinc deprivation on the lipid metabolism of budding yeast.

Zinc is an essential micronutrient for all living
cells. It serves as a structural and catalytic cofactor for
numerous proteins, hence maintaining a proper level of
cellular zinc is essential for normal functioning of the cell.
Zinc homeostasis is sustained through various ways under
severe zinc-deficient conditions. Zinc-dependent proteins
play an important role in biological systems and limitation of
zinc causes a drastic change in their expression. In budding
yeast, a zinc-responsive transcription factor Zap1p controls
the expression of genes required for uptake and mobilization
of zinc under zinc-limiting conditions. It also regulates the
polar lipid levels under zinc-limiting conditions to maintain
membrane integrity. Deletion of ZAP1 causes an increase in
triacylglyerol levels which is due to the increased biosynthesis
of acetate that serves as a precursor for triacylglycerol
biosynthesis. In this review, we expanded our recent work
role of Zap1p in nonpolar lipid metabolism of budding yeast.