Lipids, pasta and palazzi: The 8th Yeast Lipid Conference, Torino, Italy, 10â12 May, 2007

In 1995, a group of yeast lipidologists headed by G. Daum (Graz, Austria) founded the ‘Yeast Lipid Conference’ (YLC) with the purpose of sharing regularly the latest findings of their research on yeast lipids. Since then, every second year a European city has hosted the YLC, attracting an increasing number of scientists from European countries as well as from the USA, Canada and India. In May 2007, the 8th YLC took place in Torino, Italy, and was organized by G. Balliano from the Faculty of Pharmacy of Torino University. Sixty-;eight participants attended this meeting and presented 26 regular lectures and 26 posters, some of which were selected for oral presentations. The scientific programme of the 8th YLC included all the topics traditionally presented at this meeting, namely metabolism, transport and regulation of all main classes of lipids in yeast. In the Opening Lecture held at the Università degli Studi di Torino, Aula Magna del Rettorato, G. Daum, the chairman of YLC, gave a review of the previous YLCs and the recent development of yeast lipid research. In the scientific part of his lecture, he reported novel findings of yeast lipid depot formation from his laboratory. Several presentations addressed the role of proteins involved in sterol and terpenoid biosynthesis as well as in transport. Yeast mutants defective in presqualene sterol biosynthesis were reported by F. Karst (Colmar, France) as a possible source of terpenoid compounds. An update on nonvesicular transport of ergosterol in yeast was presented by A.K. Menon (New York, NY, USA). R. Schneiter (Fribourg, Switzerland) reported a novel mechanism of export of sterols, while their selective uptake was illustrated by M. Valachovic (I. Hapala's group, Ivanka pri Dunaji, Slovak Republic). The complex facets of protein–protein interactions involving enzymes of ergosterol biosynthesis were addressed by M. Bard (Indianapolis, IN, USA) and T. Höfken (Kiel, Germany). The model of one of these enzymes, squalene epoxidase, which is target of powerful antifungal drugs, was reported by F. Turnowsky (Graz, Austria), while R. Prasad (New Delhi, India) showed that the membrane environment selectively affects two drug extrusion pumps in Candida albicans. Evolutionary analyses of two enzymes of the late steps of sterol biosynthesis were presented by W.D. Nes (Lubbock, TX, USA) and S.L. Kelly (Swansea, Wales, UK), who proposed an evolutionary reclassification of these proteins. The conference specially addressed yeast as a model to study disorders of lipid metabolism. Indeed, many metabolic syndromes can be mimicked by inducing lipotoxicity in yeast. Examples of yeast models generated by genetically compromising neutral lipid biosynthesis and transport were reported by S.L. Sturley (New York, NY, USA). M. Veen (Berlin, Germany) presented two examples of ‘humanized yeast’, one of which produces 7-;dehydrocholesterol, the same sterol accumulating in mammalian Smith–Lemli–Opitz syndrome. Barth syndrome and bipolar disorder are two further examples (M.L. Greenberg, Detroit, MI, USA) of complex lipid-;related disorders that can be profitably studied with yeast as a model. The use of yeast to study the resistance to the antitumoral agents IFTs (inhibitors of farnesyl transferase) was reported by G. Porcu (Chieti, Italy). To promote the exchange between groups sharing the scope of understanding lipid-;dependent diseases, an expert from outside the yeast lipid community was invited to the conference. A. De Matteis (Chieti, Italy) offered a wide and thorough (over) view on altered metabolism of phosphoinositides occurring in genetic diseases such as Lowe syndrome and myotubular myopathies. In all eukaryotes, phospholipids present in a high variety of different types are essential structural components of the membranes, not only because they form a hydrophobic barrier between different environments but also because they give structural/functional specificity to each membrane. Regulating transport in and out of cells or subcellular compartments, taking part in signalling cascades, affecting the properties of membrane proteins, and providing anchoring sites are only some of the roles played by this class of compounds. Some facets of the phospholipid world were, of course, discussed at this conference. G.M. Carman (New Brunswick, NJ, USA) described the various roles of phosphatidate phosphatase in the regulation of lipid metabolism. P. Griac̆ (Ivanka pri Dunaji, Slovak Republic) depicted a novel regulatory pathway in yeast cardiolipin metabolism. T. Levine (London, UK) showed the link between phospholipid metabolism and delivery of cortical endoplasmic reticulum during budding. The close interaction between phospholipids and sterols arose from the lecture of C.R. McMaster (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), which was focused on Kes1p, a yeast oxysterol binding protein involved in regulating the Golgi phosphatidylinositol 4-;phosphate level. T. de Kroon (Utrecht, The Netherlands) provided evidence for a mechanism of regulating membrane curvature through modulation of membrane lipid composition, especially the phosphatidylcholine to phosphatidylethanolamine ratio, a mechanism so far documented only in prokaryotes. The supply of phosphatidylethanolamine to peroxisomes in yeast was illustrated by S. Rosenberger (Graz, Austria). Sphingolipids and phospholipids share the amphipathic character that makes them both ideal membrane-;forming lipids. Their distribution at the cell surface, however, is different, because sphingolipids have a higher propensity to cluster in membrane ‘microdomains’, called lipid rafts, that function as platforms for the attachment of various types of proteins. Examples of sphingolipid-;mediated localization of proteins were reported by A. Toulmay (Fribourg, Switzerland) and L.A. Cowart (Charleston, SC, USA). C. Sumanasekera (R.C. Dickson's group, Lexington, KY, USA) focused on the identification of several substrates of the sphingoid base-;regulated serine-;threonine kinase Ypk1. Close interaction between glycerophospholipid and sphingolipids metabolism was illustrated in studies by A. Conzelmann (Fribourg, Switzerland) on GPI-;anchored proteins containing a ceramide moiety. Lipid bodies, also named lipid particles (LP) or lipid droplets, are gaining increasing interest among yeast lipidologists due to the recognized role of this compartment in a variety of cellular processes. G. Daum (Graz, Austria) and J. Petschnigg (Graz, Austria) addressed the question of yeast LP structure and function, by studying mutants lacking from one to all the genes involved in the formation of neutral lipids, triacylglycerols and steryl esters. V.I. Titorenko (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) showed how LP can affect aging in calorie-;restricted yeast. Two short presentations illustrated aspects of triacylglycerol recycling from LP (A. Beranek, Graz, Austria) and properties of the oleaginous yeasts Rhodotorula glutinis and Yarrowia lipolytica (J-;M. Nicaud, Thiverval-;Grignon, France), respectively. Lipids of yeast mitochondria were discussed in several presentations at the conference. In particular, A.J. Kastaniotis (Oulu, Finland) provided evidence of an impressive network of links between mitochondrial fatty acid synthesis and different mitochondrial functions. C.F. Clarke (Los Angeles, CA, USA) reported on the topology of proteins involved in coenzyme Q biosynthesis. J. Gubbens (Utrecht, The Netherlands) described experiments in which photoactivated lipid-;crosslinkers were applied to the mitochondrial inner membrane. As at previous YLCs, the ‘science’ of the conference was embedded into a framework of pleasant social activities. Participants had the opportunity to visit one of the historic buildings in Torino, Palazzo della Cisterna, where they listened to a concert by the ‘Corale Universitaria di Torino’, a mixed-;voice choir founded at Torino University in 1954. The direct contact with the traditional Piemontese Cuisine, both at the Conference Dinner and at the Farewell Dinner, completed the enjoyable experience of the 8th YLC. Two future meetings have already been planned. The 9th YLC will be held in 2009 in Berlin, Germany, and will be organized by Christine Lang and Thomas Pomorsky (University of Technology and Humbold University, Berlin, Germany). The 10th YLC will take place in 2011 in Oulu, Finland, and will be organized by Kalervo Hiltunen (University of Oulu, Finland). For information about previous and future meetings, please visit the YLC Homepage http://www.yeastlipidconference.tugraz.at/. Abstracts of the 8th YLC are available on the web page of the Università degli Studi di Torino (http://dspace-;unito.cilea.it/handle/2318/196).

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