Insulin-like activity of chromium-binding fractions from brewer's yeast

51CrCl3 was added to the incubation medium of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for up to 48 hr. After repeated freezing and thawing, lysing in 9 M urea with 1% NP-40 detergent, and dialysis against water, the lower molecular weight (Mr less than 3500) dialysate was retained on a SE53 cationic exchange column, eluted with 0.25 M NH4OH and fractionated on a Bio-gel P-2 column. The insulin-like biological activity of the fractions was measured by the 14C-glucose oxidation in isolated rat adipocytes. The biological activity that was found in two of nine fractions did not correspond to their chromium content. Moreover, identical findings were obtained when chromium was added not to the live yeast but to the yeast extract, which showed that its binding was a chemical process not requiring cellular activity. No fraction demonstrated insulin-potentiating activity on rat adipocytes.     

Pilot scale production of a Trichoderma reesei endo-beta-glucanase by brewer's yeast.

Endo-beta-glucanase I (EGI) of Trichoderma reesei was produced in laboratory and pilot scale using recombinant strains of "bottom-fermenting" Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The gene eg/1 was integrated in the chromosome or an expression cassette was inserted on a multicopy plasmid. Expression levels were compared in a laboratory scale bioreactor. The best EGI-producing strain was cultivated in pilot scale. Adsorbent treatment was used to remove endogenous yeast proteins and other impurities from the culture filtrate during concentration. Effective pilot scale one-step purification of the EGI protein was obtained using DEAE-Sepharose, on which EGI was weakly bound. The purified enzyme reacted with antibodies prepared against T. reesei EGI and catalyzed the hydrolysis of both insoluble and soluble substrates.     

Purification and partial characterization of a flocculin from brewer's yeast.

Analysis of a shear supernatant from flocculent, "fimbriated" Saccharomyces cerevisiae brewer's yeast cells revealed the presence of a protein involved in flocculation of the yeast cells and therefore designated a flocculin. The molecular mass of the flocculin was estimated to be over 300 kDa, as judged from sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Gel permeation chromatography of the flocculin yielded an aggregate with an apparent molecular weight of > 2,000. The flocculin was found to be protease sensitive, and the sequence of its 16 N-terminal amino acids revealed at least 69% identity with the predicted N terminus of the putative protein encoded by the flocculation gene FLO1. The flocculin was isolated from flocculent S. cerevisiae cells, whereas only a low amount of flocculin, if any, could be isolated from nonflocculent cells. The flocculin was found to stimulate the flocculation ability of flocculent yeast cells without displaying lectinlike activity (that is, the ability to agglutinate yeast cells).     

Frankia growth and activity as influenced by water potential

Summary Growth responses of Frankia isolates to decreasing water potential were monitored in systems where potentials were controlled by KCl, NaCl and Polyethylene glycol. The highest potential tested was −2 bar (basal medium). The general pattern emerging was that isolates fromAlnus glutinosa, A. viridis andComptonia peregrina showed declining growth at potentials below −2 to −5 bar. AMyrica gale isolate showed declining growth with decreasing potential. All isolates were more sensitive to decreases in potential in a matric controlled than an osmotic controlled system. They all showed approximately 50 percent growth reduction at −5 to −8 bar, and meagre growth at −16 bar after 35 days. The Comptonia isolate was the most vigorous at low potentials. Nitrogen fixation ability was monitored for two isolates. Highest specific activities were observed between −3 and −5 bar for the Myrica isolate and between −5 and −7.5 bar for theA. glutinosa isolate.     

Conjugated alpha-keto acids as mechanism-based inactivators of brewer's yeast pyruvate decarboxylase: electronic effects of substituents and detection of a long-lived intermediate

A series of phenyl substituted E-4-phenyl-2-keto-3-butenoic acid derivatives were synthesized (p-Cl, m-Cl, p-NO2, m-NO2, o-NO2, 3,4-Cl2, 2,6-Cl2, p-CH3O, p-(CH3)2N) and tested as potential irreversible inhibitors of brewer's yeast pyruvate decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.1). All those derivatives with electron withdrawing substituents were found to be time-dependent inactivators of the enzyme, unlike the p-CH3O- and p-(CH3)2N derivatives. Detailed kinetic studies with the m-nitro derivative (the most potent inhibitor) indicated that this compound formed reversible complexes with the enzyme at two sites (supposed regulatory and catalytic with Ki values of 0.026 and 0.13 mM, respectively) prior to irreversible inactivation of the enzyme. In addition, concurrently with the inactivation, addition of the m-NO2 derivative to the enzyme produced a new VIS absorbance with lambda max near 430 nm. This absorbance was attributed to the enzyme-bound enamine intermediate. The time course of formation and disappearance of the intermediate could be determined and provided detailed information about the mechanism of the enzyme.     

A calorimetric investigation of melting of tRNAAsp from brewer's yeast.

The thermodynamics of tRNAAsp unfolding was studied using a precision scanning microcalorimeter. The overall heat of melting was found to be about 55 J/g irrespective of the ionic strength and magnesium activity. The analysis of complex melting curves obtained in the absence of Mg2+ reveals four successive two-state transitions. The first was identified as the cooperative melting of the tertiary structure and the D region and the others as the melting of individual helical arms.     

Continuous beer fermentation by high cell-density culture of bottom brewer's yeast

Continuous beer production was investigated in a high cell-density culture system which consisted of two stages for the fermentation and sedimentation of yeast cells. The continuous culture was carried out for a fermentation time of 5,500 h without contamination, at varying dilution rates and fermentation temperatures in the ranges of 0.017-0.033 h⁻¹ and 6.5–8.5°C, respectively. This process was found to be suitable for continuous and stable beer brewing. Under these conditions, the cell concentration in the first stage was about 80 times as high as that in the exit of the second stage. Concentrations of viable cells, sugar and ethanol were maintained at 1.3 × 10⁹ cells/ml, 25 and 36 g/l, respectively, and were hardly affected by fermentation temperature. Concentrations of ethyl acetate, isoamyl alcohol and isoamyl acetate were similar in the fermentation temperature ranges of 6.5–8.5°C, and the amounts at a fermentation temperature of 7°C were comparable to those of lager-type beer. Diacetyl flavor, which is known to be an effluent component that causes deterioration in the second stag e (young beer), was maintained at 1.2 ppm at a dilution rate and fermentation temperature of 0.022 h⁻¹ and 7°C, respectively. The diacetyl flavor was due to the accumulation of vicinal diketone, the precursor of which is acetohydroxy acid. The acetohydroxy acid was converted to vicinal diketone by pretreatment at 60°C for 30 min. The vicinal diketone was then consumed by the yeast during after-fermentation at a fermentation temperature of 3°C. Using this method, total vicinal diketone decreased below 0.3 ppm for an after-fermentation time of 6.8 h, which was 225 times as fast as that of after-fermentation without the pretreatment. This process may make it possible to achieve continuous beer fermentation from the fermentation stage to after-fermentation for diacetyl removal.     

Construction and analysis of recombinant glucanolytic brewer's yeast strains

Summary Four different types of endo--1,4-glucanase active bottom-fermenting brewer's yeast strains were constructed using recombinant DNA technology. To study the effects of different promoters, copy numbers and integration sites, the egl1 gene of the filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei was inserted between the promoter and terminator regions of either the PGK1 or ADH1 gene of yeast. The egl1 gene was transferred to the industrial brewer's yeast on a multicopy plasmid or alternatively integrated into the LEU2, PGK1 or ADH1 locus of the yeast. Integration into the PGK1 or ADH1 locus did not affect the brewing properties of the yeast or the quality of the finished beer. Integration into the LEU2 locus, however, decreased the metabolic activity of yeast and prolonged fermentation was needed. In pilot brewing conditions the PGK1 promoter was stronger than that of ADH1. Even a single copy of the egl1 gene in the PGK1 integrant strains gave rise to sufficient enzyme activity for the hydrolysis even of unusually high total amounts of -glucans in worts. Offprint requests to: M.-L. Suihko