Effects of culture conditions on ergosterol biosynthesis by Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Ergosterol is an essential component of yeast cells that maintains the integrity of the membrane. It was investigated as an important factor in the ethanol tolerance of yeast cells. We investigated the effects of brewing conditions on the ergosterol contents of S. cerevisiae K-9, sake yeast, several kinds of Saccharomyces cerevisiae that produce more than 20% ethanol, and X2180-1A, laboratory yeast. K-9 had a higher total ergosterol contents under all the conditions we examined than X2180-1A. Ethanol and hypoxia were found to have negative and synergistic effects on the total ergosterol contents of both strains, and significantly reduced the free ergosterol contents of X2180-1A but only slightly reduced those of K-9. The maintenance of free ergosterol contents under brewing conditions might be an important character of sake yeast strains. DNA microarray analysis also showed higher expression of ergosterol biosynthesis genes in K-9 than in X2180-1A.     

A new method for isolation of S-adenosylmethionine (SAM)-accumulating yeast

S-Adenosylmethionine (SAM) is an important metabolite that participates in many reactions as a methyl group donor in all organisms, and has attracted much interest in clinical research because of its potential to improve many diseases, such as depression, liver disease, and osteoarthritis. Because of these potential applications, a more efficient means is needed to produce SAM. Accordingly, we developed a positive selection method to isolate SAM-accumulating yeast in this study. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, one of the main reactions consuming SAM is thought to be the methylation reaction in the biosynthesis of ergosterol that is catalyzed by Erg6p. Mutants with deficiencies in ergosterol biosynthesis may accumulate SAM as a result of the reduction of SAM consumption in ergosterol biosynthesis. We have applied this method to isolate SAM-accumulating yeasts with nystatin, which has been used to select mutants with deficiencies in ergosterol biosynthesis. SAM-accumulating mutants from S. cerevisiae K-9 and X2180-1A were efficiently isolated through this method. These mutants accumulated 1.7–5.5 times more SAM than their parental strains. NMR and GC-MS analyses suggested that two mutants from K-9 have a mutation in the erg4 gene, and erg4 disruptants from laboratory strains also accumulated more SAM than their parental strains. These results indicate that mutants having mutations in the genes for enzymes that act downstream of Erg6p in ergosterol biosynthesis are effective in accumulating SAM.     

The CUP2 gene product regulates the expression of the CUP1 gene, coding for yeast metallothionein.

The yeast CUP1 gene codes for a copper-binding protein similar to metallothionein. Copper sensitive cup1s strains contain a single copy of the CUP1 locus. Resistant strains (CUP1r) carry 12 or more multiple tandem copies. We isolated 12 ethyl methane sulfonate-induced copper sensitive mutants in a wild-type CUP1r parental strain, X2180-1A. Most mutants reduce the copper resistance phenotype only slightly. However, the mutant cup2 lowers resistance by nearly two orders of magnitude. We cloned CUP2 by molecular complementation. The smallest subcloned fragment conferring function was approximately 2.1 kb. We show that CUP2, which is on chromosome VII, codes for or controls the synthesis or activity of a protein which binds the upstream control region of the CUP1 gene on chromosome VIII. Mutant cup2 cells produced extremely low levels of CUP1-specific mRNA, with or without added copper ions and lacked a factor which binds to the CUP1 promoter. Integrated at the cup2 site, the CUP2 plasmid restored the basal level and inducibility of CUP1 expression and led to reappearance of the CUP1-promoter binding factor. Taken collectively, our data establish CUP2 as a regulatory gene for expression of the CUP1 metallothionein gene product.     

Effect of L-proline on sake brewing and ethanol stress in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

During the fermentation of sake, cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae are exposed to high concentrations of ethanol, thereby damaging the cell membrane and functional proteins. L-proline protects yeast cells from damage caused by freezing or oxidative stress. In this study, we evaluated the role of intracellular L-proline in cells of S. cerevisiae grown under ethanol stress. An L-proline-accumulating laboratory strain carries a mutant allele of PRO1, pro1(D154N), which encodes the Asp154Asn mutant gamma-glutamyl kinase. This mutation increases the activity of gamma-glutamyl kinase and gamma-glutamyl phosphate reductase, which catalyze the first two steps of L-proline synthesis and which together may form a complex in vivo. When cultured in liquid medium in the presence of 9% and 18% ethanol under static conditions, the cell viability of the L-proline-accumulating laboratory strain is greater than the cell viability of the parent strain. This result suggests that intracellular accumulation of L-proline may confer tolerance to ethanol stress. We constructed a novel sake yeast strain by disrupting the PUT1 gene, which is required for L-proline utilization, and replacing the wild-type PRO1 allele with the pro1(D154N) allele. The resultant strain accumulated L-proline and was more tolerant to ethanol stress than was the control strain. We used the strain that could accumulate L-proline to brew sake containing five times more L-proline than what is found in sake brewed with the control strain, without affecting the fermentation profiles.     

Adenosine kinase-deficient mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae accumulates S-adenosylmethionine because of an enhanced methionine biosynthesis pathway

To isolate an S-adenosylmethionine (SAM)-accumulating yeast strain and to develop a more efficient method of producing SAM, we screened methionine-resistant strains using the yeast deletion library of budding yeast and isolated 123 strains. The SAM content in 81 of the 123 strains was higher than that in the parental strain BY4742. We identified ADO1 encoding adenosine kinase as one of the factors participating in high SAM accumulation. The X?ado1 strain that was constructed from the X2180-1A strain (MAT a, ATCC 26786) could accumulate approximately 30-fold (18 mg/g dry cell weight) more SAM than the X2180-1A strain in yeast extract peptone dextrose medium. Furthermore, we attempted to identify the molecular basis underlying the differences in SAM accumulation between X?ado1 and X2180-1A strains. DNA microarray analysis revealed that the genes involved in the methionine biosynthesis pathway, phosphate metabolism, and hexose transport were mainly overexpressed in the X?ado1 strain compared with the X2180-1A strain. We also determined the levels of various metabolites involved in the methionine biosynthesis pathway and found increased content of SAM, tetrahydrofolate (THF), inorganic phosphate, polyphosphoric acid, and S-adenosylhomocysteine in the X?ado1 strain. In contrast, the content of 5-methyl-THF, homocysteine, glutathione, and adenosine was decreased. These results indicated that the ?ado1 strain could accumulate SAM because of preferential activation of the methionine biosynthesis pathway.     

Factors affecting the ethanol productivity of yeast in molasses

The ethanol production by a laboratory yeast strain, X2180-1B, was less than half that by an alcohol yeast, YOY655, in a molasses medium containing 30% sugars, although X2180-1B produced approximately the same amount of ethanol as YOY655 in a nutrition medium with the same sugar content. The weak productivity of X2180-1B in the molasses was ascribed to the limitation of sucrose hydrolysis in the molasses. The invertase activity of X2180-1B was 0.019 (mmol sucrose/min/mg protein) in the nutrition medium, but substantially zero in the molasses, while that of YOY655 was 1.75 in the nutrition medium and 1.15 even under the inhibitory conditions in molasses. External addition of invertase greatly enhanced the ethanol productivity of only X2180-1B. The inhibitory factors of invertase in molasses were heat-stable and dialyzable substances.     

Mutant isolation of non-urea producing sake yeast by positive selection

Urea is reported to be a main precursor in wine and sake (Japanese rice wine) of ethyl carbamate (ECA), a suspected carcinogen. We constructed an arginase-deficient mutant (Δcar1/Δcar1) from a diploid sake yeast, Kyokai no. 9, using a gene disruption method (Kitamoto, K. et al., Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 57, 301, 1991). The car1 mutant thus constructed enabled us to brew sake containing no urea or ECA. In spite of their superior characteristics, industrial use of mutants for sake brewing has so far been difficult because guidelines for recombinant DNA utilization in the food and beverages industry have not yet been established. Using the genetically engineered car1 mutant, we have developed a new medium for the positive selection of car1 mutants. Many arginase-deficient mutants could be easily isolated from not only a laboratory haploid strain (X2180-1A), but also sake yeasts (Kyokai no. 9 and Kyokai no 10) and wine yeasts (Geisenheim 74 and Eperney). Sake with no urea could be brewed using the car1 mutants, and no ECA was detected in the resulting sake even after heat treatment (hi-ire) and storage.     

Synthesis of a mannose heptasaccharide existing in baker's yeast,Saccharomyces cerevisiae X2180-1A wild-type strain

A mannose heptasaccharide existing in baker's yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae X2180-1A wild-type strain, was effectively synthesized as its allyl glycoside via TMSOTf-promoted condensation of a disaccharide donor 13 with a pentasaccharide acceptor 12, followed by deprotection. The pentasaccharide 12 was constructed by coupling of 2,3,4,6-tetra-O-benzoyl-alpha-D-mannopyranosyl-(1-->3)-2,4,6-tri-O-benzoyl-alpha-D-mannopyranosyl-(1-->2)-3,4,6-tri-O-benzoyl-alpha-D-mannopyranosyl-(1-->2)-3,4,6-tri-O-benzoyl-alpha-D-mannopyranosyl trichloroacetimidate (9) with allyl 6-O-acetyl-3,4-di-O-benzoyl-alpha-D-mannopyranoside (10), followed by deacetylation. The tetrasaccharide 9 was obtained by coupling of 2,3,4,6-tetra-O-benzoyl-alpha-D-mannopyranosyl-(1-->3)-2,4,6-tri-O-benzoyl-alpha-D-mannopyranosyl trichloroacetimidate (5) with allyl 3,4,6-tri-O-benzoyl-alpha-D-mannopyranosyl-(1-->2)-3,4,6-tri-O-benzoyl-alpha-D-mannopyranoside (6), followed by deallylation and trichloroacetimidation. The disaccharides 6 and 13 were readily obtained by known methods.     

Versatile cassettes designed for the copper inducible expression of proteins in yeast

A series of yeast expression vectors and cassettes utilizing the CUP1 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been constructed. The cassettes contain multiple cloning sites for gene fusions and were created by inserting a 27-bp polylinker at the +14 position of the CUP1 gene. The cassettes are portable as restriction fragments and enable copper-regulated expression of foreign proteins in S. cerevisiae. In copper sensitive yeast, multiple copies of the CUP1 cassettes confer copper resistance due to the production of the copper metallothionein. Genes cloned into the CUP1 cassettes, however, usually prevent translation of the metallothionein leading to a loss of resistance. This could be useful for one-step cloning into yeast.     

A Gene with Specific and Global Effects on Recombination of Sequences from Tandemly Repeated Genes in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae

The preservation of sequence homogeneity and copy number of tandemly repeated genes may require specific mechanisms or regulation of recombination. We have identified mutations that specifically affect recombination among natural repetitions in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The rrm3 mutation stimulates mitotic recombination in the naturally occurring tandem repeats of the rDNA and copper chelatin (CUP1) genes. This mutation does not affect recombination of several other types of repeated genes tested including Ty elements, mating type information and duplications created by transformation. In addition to stimulating exchange among the multiple CUP1 repeats at their natural chromosomal location, rrm3 also increases recombination of a duplication of CUP1 units present at his4. This suggests that the RRM3 gene may encode a sequence-specific factor that contributes to a global suppression of mitotic exchange in sequences that can be maintained as tandem arrays.     

Identification of target genes conferring ethanol stress tolerance to Saccharomyces cerevisiae based on DNA microarray data analysis

During industrial production process using yeast, cells are exposed to the stress due to the accumulation of ethanol, which affects the cell growth activity and productivity of target products, thus, the ethanol stress-tolerant yeast strains are highly desired. To identify the target gene(s) for constructing ethanol stress tolerant yeast strains, we obtained the gene expression profiles of two strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, namely, a laboratory strain and a strain used for brewing Japanese rice wine (sake), in the presence of 5% (v/v) ethanol, using DNA microarray. For the selection of target genes for breeding ethanol stress tolerant strains, clustering of DNA microarray data was performed. For further selection, the ethanol sensitivity of the knockout mutants in each of which the gene selected by DNA microarray analysis is deleted, was also investigated. The integration of the DNA microarray data and the ethanol sensitivity data of knockout strains suggests that the enhancement of expression of genes related to tryptophan biosynthesis might confer the ethanol stress tolerance to yeast cells. Indeed, the strains overexpressing tryptophan biosynthesis genes showed a stress tolerance to 5% ethanol. Moreover, the addition of tryptophan to the culture medium and overexpression of tryptophan permease gene conferred ethanol stress tolerance to yeast cells. These results indicate that overexpression of the genes for trypophan biosynthesis increases the ethanol stress tolerance. Tryptophan supplementation to culture and overexpression of the tryptophan permease gene are also effective for the increase in ethanol stress tolerance. Our methodology for the selection of target genes for constructing ethanol stress tolerant strains, based on the data of DNA microarray analysis and phenotypes of knockout mutants, was validated.     

Isolation and characterization of temperature-sensitive mak mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The K1 killer plasmid of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a 1.5-megadalton linear double-stranded ribonucleic acid molecule. Using simplified screening and complementation procedures, we have isolated mutants in three chromosomal genes that are temperature sensitive for killer plasmid maintenance or replication. One of these genes, mak28-1, was located on chromosome X. Two of the temperature-sensitive mutants rapidly lost the wild-type killer plasmid of A364A during spore germination and outgrowth at nonpermissive temperatures, but during vegetative growth, they only lowered the plasmid copy number. These two mutants did not lose two other wild-type K1 killer plasmids, indicating a heterogeneity of the killer plasmids in laboratory yeast strains.