Effects of acetic acid on growth and fermentative activity of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The effect of acetic acid on the growth and the fermentative activity of S. cerevisiae was analysed comparatively with the pH. This study showed that the pH does not affect these two activities. On the contrary, the acetic acid has an inhibition effect. This effect was modelised by the relation of Levenspiel. Finally, it was shown that the quantities of acetic acid produced by Brettanomyces were not sufficient to explain the inhibition of Saccharomyces.     

The effect of acetic acid and specific growth rate on acetic acid tolerance and trehalose content of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Summary The effects of acetic acid and specific growth rate on acetic acid tolerance and trehalose content of Saccharomyces cerevisiae CBS 2806 were studied using anaerobic chemostat cultures. Cells grown in the presence of acetic acid at a defined specific growth rate showed a higher acetic acid tolerance and a slightly lower trehalose content. Cells grown at a low specific growth rate showed a lower energy demand, a higher acetic acid tolerance, and a higher trehalose content. These results indicate that trehalose plays a growth rate dependent role in the tolerance of S. cerevisiae to acetic acid.     

Main and interaction effects of acetic acid, furfural, and p-hydroxybenzoic acid on growth and ethanol productivity of yeasts

The influence of the factors acetic acid, furfural, and p-hydroxybenzoic acid on the ethanol yield (YEtOH) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, bakers' yeast, S. cerevisiae ATCC 96581, and Candida shehatae NJ 23 was investigated using a 2(3)-full factorial design with 3 centrepoints. The results indicated that acetic acid inhibited the fermentation by C. shehatae NJ 23 markedly more than by bakers' yeast, whereas no significant difference in tolerance towards the compounds was detected between the S. cerevisiae strains. Furfural (2 g L-1) and the lignin derived compound p-hydroxybenzoic acid (2 g L-1) did not affect any of the yeasts at the cell mass concentration used. The results indicated that the linear model was not adequate to describe the experimental data (the p-values of curvatures were 0.048 for NJ 23 and 0.091 for bakers' yeast). Based on the results from the 2(3)-full factorial experiment, an extended experiment was designed based on a central composite design to investigate the influence of the factors on the specific growth rate (mu), biomass yield (Yx), volumetric ethanol productivity (QEtOH), and YEtOH. Bakers' yeast was chosen in the extended experiment due to its better tolerance towards acetic acid, which makes it a more interesting organism for use in industrial fermentations of lignocellulosic hydrolysates. The inoculum size was reduced in the extended experiment to reduce any increase in inhibitor tolerance that might be due to a large cell inoculum. By dividing the experiment in blocks containing fermentations performed with the same inoculum preparation on the same day, much of the anticipated systematic variation between the experiments was separated from the experimental error. The results of the fitted model can be summarised as follows: mu was decreased by furfural (0-3 g L-1). Furfural and acetic acid (0-10 g L-1) also interacted negatively on mu. Furfural concentrations up to 2 g L-1 stimulated Yx in the absence of acetic acid whereas higher concentrations decreased Yx. The two compounds interacted negatively on Yx and YEtOH. Acetic acid concentrations up to 9 g L-1 stimulated QEtOH, whereas furfural (0-3 g L-1) decreased QEtOH. Acetic acid in concentrations up to 10 g L-1 stimulated YEtOH in the absence of furfural, and furfural (0-2 g L-1) slightly increased YEtOH in the absence of acetic acid whereas higher concentrations caused inhibition. Acetic acid and furfural interacted negatively on YEtOH.     

Mixed culture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Acetobacter pasteurianus for acetic acid production

Mixed culture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Acetobacter pasteurianus was carried out for high yield of acetic acid. Acetic acid production process was divided into three stages. The first stage was the growth of S. cerevisiae and ethanol production, fermentation temperature and aeration rate were controlled at 32 °C and 0.2 vvm, respectively. The second stage was the co-culture of S. cerevisiae and A. pasteurianus, fermentation temperature and aeration rate were maintained at 34 °C and 0.4 vvm, respectively. The third stage was the growth of A. pasteurianus and production of acetic acid, fermentation temperature and aeration rate were controlled at 32 °C and 0.2 vvm, respectively. Inoculation volume of A. pasteurianus and S. cerevisiae was 16% and 0.06%, respectively. The average acetic acid concentration was 52.51 g/L under these optimum conditions. To enhance acetic acid production, a glucose feeding strategy was subsequently employed. When initial glucose concentration was 90 g/L and 120 g/L glucose was fed twice during fermentation, acetic acid concentration reached 66.0 g/L.     

Inhibition of glycolysis by furfural in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Summary Furfural, a Maillard reaction product, was found to inhibit growth and alcohol production by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Furfural concentrations above 1 mg ml^–1 significantly decreased CO₂ evolution by resuspended yeast cells. Important glycolytic enzymes such as hexokinase, phosphofructokinase, triosephosphate dehydrogenase, aldolase and alcohol dehydrogenase were assayed in presence of furfural. Dehydrogenases appeared to be the most sensitive enzymes and are probably responsible for the observed inhibition of alcohol production and growth.     

Effects of acetic acid and lactic acid on the growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in a minimal medium

Specific growth rates (μ) of two strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae decreased exponentially (R ²>0.9) as the concentrations of acetic acid or lactic acid were increased in minimal media at 30°C. Moreover, the length of the lag phase of each growth curve (h) increased exponentially as increasing concentrations of acetic or lactic acid were added to the media. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of acetic acid for yeast growth was 0.6% w/v (100 mM) and that of lactic acid was 2.5% w/v (278 mM) for both strains of yeast. However, acetic acid at concentrations as low as 0.05–0.1% w/v and lactic acid at concentrations of 0.2–0.8% w/v begin to stress the yeasts as seen by reduced growth rates and decreased rates of glucose consumption and ethanol production as the concentration of acetic or lactic acid in the media was raised. In the presence of increasing acetic acid, all the glucose in the medium was eventually consumed even though the rates of consumption differed. However, this was not observed in the presence of increasing lactic acid where glucose consumption was extremely protracted even at a concentration of 0.6% w/v (66 mM). A response surface central composite design was used to evaluate the interaction between acetic and lactic acids on the specific growth rate of both yeast strains at 30C. The data were analysed using the General Linear Models (GLM) procedure. From the analysis, the interaction between acetic acid and lactic acid was statistically significant (P≤0.001), i.e., the inhibitory effect of the two acids present together in a medium is highly synergistic. Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology (2001) 26, 171–177. Received 06 June 2000/ Accepted in revised form 21 September 2000     

酿酒酵母乙酸耐受性相关的微卫星分子标记筛选

【目的】筛选与酵母乙酸耐受性状紧密相关的微卫星分子标记。【方法】以两株表型差异菌株YHA和YLA作为亲本构建F2代菌株共计160株,选取15个微卫星位点通过PCR方法在40株子代中扩增产物,利用SPSS 11.5软件分析耐酸性状与微卫星序列间的相关性。【结果】找到3个与乙酸耐受性性状相关的微卫星位点,其中位点14P2与酵母乙酸耐受性状有极显著的正相关性(P<0.01),15P2和15P3与酵母乙酸耐受性具有显著的负相关性(P<0.01和P<0.05);此外对于微卫星位点14P2,耐酸亲本YHA在该位点的基因片段(344 bp)在子代耐酸菌株中出现频率达到70.6%,而不耐酸亲本YLA的基因片段(331 bp)在子代不耐酸菌株中出现的频率达91.3%。【结论】微卫星14P2的等位基因在子代菌株中的遗传具有明显的偏好性,该微卫星位点与某种耐酸基因存在一定的连锁遗传,为酵母分子标记辅助育种提供了有价值的遗传标记。     

酿酒酵母乙酸耐性分子机制的功能基因组进展

提高工业酿酒酵母对高浓度代谢产物及原料中的毒性底物等环境胁迫因素的耐受性,对提高工业生产效率具有重要的意义。乙酸是纤维素原料水解产生的主要毒性副产物之一,其对酵母细胞的生长和代谢都具有较强的抑制作用,因此,对酿酒酵母乙酸耐性分子机制的研究可为选育优良菌种提供理论依据。近年来,通过细胞全局基因表达分析和代谢组分析,以及对单基因敲除的所有突变体的表型组研究,对酿酒酵母乙酸耐性的分子机制有了更多新的认识,揭示了很多新的与乙酸毒性适应性反应和乙酸耐性提高相关的基因。综述了近年来酿酒酵母乙酸耐性的基因组规模的研究进展,以及在此基础上构建乙酸耐性提高的工业酵母菌的代谢工程操作。结合本课题组的研究,对金属离子锌在酿酒酵母乙酸耐性中的作用进行了深入分析。未来对酿酒酵母乙酸耐性分子机理的认识及改造将深入到翻译后修饰和合成生物学等新的水平,所获得的认知,将为选育可高效进行纤维素原料生物转化、高效生产生物燃料和生物基化学品的工业酿酒酵母的菌株奠定理论基础。     

Effects of furfural on anaerobic continuous cultivation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Furfural is an important inhibitor of yeast metabolism in lignocellulose-derived substrates. The effect of furfural on the physiology of Saccharomyces cerevisiae CBS 8066 was investigated using anaerobic continuous cultivations. Experiments were performed with furfural in the feed medium (up to 8.3 g/L) using three different dilution rates (0.095, 0.190, and 0.315 h(-1)). The measured concentration of furfural was low (< 0.1 g/L) at all steady states obtained. However, it was not possible to achieve a steady state at a specific conversion rate of furfural, q(f), higher than approximately 0.15 g/g.h. An increased furfural concentration in the feed caused a decrease in the steady-state glycerol yield. This agreed well with the decreased need for glycerol production as a way to regenerate NAD+, i.e., to function as a redox sink because furfural was reduced to furfuryl alcohol. Transient experiments were also performed by pulse addition of furfural directly into the fermentor. In contrast to the situation at steady-state conditions, both glycerol and furfuryl alcohol yields increased after pulse addition of furfural to the culture. Furthermore, the maximum specific conversion rate of furfural (0.6 g/g.h) in dynamic experiments was significantly higher than what was attainable in the chemostat experiments. The dynamic furfural conversion could be described by the use of a simple Michaelis-Menten-type kinetic model. Also furfural conversion under steady-state conditions could be explained by a Michaelis-Menten-type kinetic model, but with a higher affinity and a lower maximum conversion rate. This indicated the presence of an additional component with a higher affinity, but lower maximum capacity, either in the transport system or in the conversion system of furfural.     

High enthalpy and low enthalpy death in Saccharomyces cerevisiae induced by acetic acid

Acetic acid at concentrations as may occur during vinification and other alcoholic yeast fermentations induced death of glucose-grown cell populations of Saccharomyces cerevisiae IGC 4072 at temperatures at which thermal death was not detectable. The Arrhenius plots of specific death rates with various concentrations of acetic acid (0-2%, w/v) pH 3.3 were linear and could be decomposed into two distinct families of parallel straight lines, indicating that acetic acid induced two types of death: (1) High enthalpy death (HED) predominated at lower acetic acid concentrations (> 0.5%, w/v) and higher temperatures; its enthalpy of activation (DeltaH( not equal)) approached that of thermal death (12.4 x 10(4) cal/mol); (2) Low enthalpy death (LED) predominated at higher acetic acid concentrations and lower temperatures with DeltaH( not equal) of 3.9 x 10(4) cal/mol. While the DeltaH( not equal) values for HED induced by acetic acid were similar with those reported earlier for HED induced by other fermentation endproducts, the values for the entropy coefficients were different: 127-168 entropy units mol(-1)L for acetic acid as compared with 3.6-5.1 entropy units mol(-1)L for ethanol, which agreed with experimental results indicating that acetic acid is over 30-times more toxic than ethanol with respect to yeast cell viability at high process temperatures.     

Activity of glycolytic enzymes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in the presence of acetic acid

Summary The effect of acetic acid on transport of glucose and on the activity of glycolytic enzymes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was investigated. Acetic acid did not affect glucose transport. The inhibitory effect of the acid on the enzymes was considered from the point of view of acidification of the cytoplasm (pH dependence of the activity) and of the direct effect of the presence of acetic acid. Enolase was the enzyme most severely affected according to these two criteria. Fermentation was monitored in vivo by ³¹P-NMR. When ATP was available, a rise in cytoplasmic pH was observed and fermentation proceeded with a lower level of sugar phosphate. This may indicate that control was exerted at one of the early phosphorylation steps. Offprint requests to: M. C. Loureiro-Dias     

Effects of acetic acid on the kinetics of xylose fermentation by an engineered, xylose-isomerase-based Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain

Acetic acid, an inhibitor released during hydrolysis of lignocellulosic feedstocks, has previously been shown to negatively affect the kinetics and stoichiometry of sugar fermentation by (engineered) Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains. This study investigates the effects of acetic acid on S. cerevisiae RWB 218, an engineered xylose-fermenting strain based on the Piromyces XylA (xylose isomerase) gene. Anaerobic batch cultures on synthetic medium supplemented with glucose–xylose mixtures were grown at pH 5 and 3.5, with and without addition of 3 g L⁻¹ acetic acid. In these cultures, consumption of the sugar mixtures followed a diauxic pattern. At pH 5, acetic acid addition caused increased glucose consumption rates, whereas specific xylose consumption rates were not significantly affected. In contrast, at pH 3.5 acetic acid had a strong and specific negative impact on xylose consumption rates, which, after glucose depletion, slowed down dramatically, leaving 50% of the xylose unused after 48 h of fermentation. Xylitol production was absent (<0.10 g L⁻¹) in all cultures. Xylose fermentation in acetic –acid-stressed cultures at pH 3.5 could be restored by applying a continuous, limiting glucose feed, consistent with a key role of ATP regeneration in acetic acid tolerance.     

Batch and continuous culture-based selection strategies for acetic acid tolerance in xylose-fermenting Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Acetic acid tolerance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is crucial for the production of bioethanol and other bulk chemicals from lignocellulosic plant-biomass hydrolysates, especially at a low pH. This study explores two evolutionary engineering strategies for the improvement of acetic acid tolerance of the xylose-fermenting S. cerevisiae RWB218, whose anaerobic growth on xylose at pH 4 is inhibited at acetic acid concentrations >1 g L(-1) : (1) sequential anaerobic, batch cultivation (pH 4) at increasing acetic acid concentrations and (2) prolonged anaerobic continuous cultivation without pH control, in which acidification by ammonium assimilation generates selective pressure for acetic acid tolerance. After c. 400 generations, the sequential-batch and continuous selection cultures grew on xylose at pH≤4 with 6 and 5 g L(-1) acetic acid, respectively. In the continuous cultures, the specific xylose-consumption rate had increased by 75% to 1.7 g xylose g(-1) biomass h(-1) . After storage of samples from both selection experiments at -80 °C and cultivation without acetic acid, they failed to grow on xylose at pH 4 in the presence of 5 g L(-1) acetic acid. Characterization in chemostat cultures with linear acetic acid gradients demonstrated an acetate-inducible acetic acid tolerance in samples from the continuous selection protocol.     

Hog1p mitogen-activated protein kinase determines acetic acid resistance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

When glucose-repressed, Saccharomyces cerevisiae cannot use acetic acid as a carbon source and is inhibited in growth by high levels of this compound, especially at low pH. Cultures exposed to a 100 mM acetate stress activate both the Hog1p and Slt2p stress-activated MAP kinases. Nevertheless, only active Hog1p, not Slt2p, is needed for the acquisition of acetate resistance. Hog1p undergoes more rapid activation by acetate in pH 4.5, than in pH 6.8 cultures, an indication that the acid may have to enter the cells in order to generate the Hog1p activatory signal. Acetate activation of Hog1p is absent in the ssk1Delta and pbs2Delta mutants, but is present in sho1Delta and ste11Delta, showing that it involves the Sln1p branch of the high-osmolarity glycerol (HOG) pathway signaling to Pbs2p. In low-pH (pH 4.5) cultures, the acetate-activated Hog1p, although conferring acetate resistance, does not generate the GPD1 gene or intracellular glycerol inductions that are hallmarks of activation of the HOG pathway by hyperosmotic stress.     

Effect of pH and lactic or acetic acid on ethanol productivity by Saccharomyces cerevisiae in corn mash

The effects of lactic and acetic acids on ethanol production by Saccharomyces cerevisiae in corn mash, as influenced by pH and dissolved solids concentration, were examined. The lactic and acetic acid concentrations utilized were 0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0% w/v, and 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8 and 1.6% w/v, respectively. Corn mashes (20, 25 and 30% dry solids) were adjusted to the following pH levels after lactic or acetic acid addition: 4.0, 4.5, 5.0 or 5.5 prior to yeast inoculation. Lactic acid did not completely inhibit ethanol production by the yeast. However, lactic acid at 4% w/v decreased (P<0.05) final ethanol concentration in all mashes at all pH levels. In 30% solids mash set at pH ≤5, lactic acid at 3% w/v reduced (P<0.05) ethanol production. In contrast, inhibition by acetic acid increased as the concentration of solids in the mash increased and the pH of the medium declined. Ethanol production was completely inhibited in all mashes set at pH 4 in the presence of acetic acid at concentrations ≥0.8% w/v. In 30% solids mash set at pH 4, final ethanol levels decreased (P<0.01) with only 0.1% w/v acetic acid. These results suggest that the inhibitory effects of lactic acid and acetic acid on ethanol production in corn mash fermentation when set at a pH of 5.0–5.5 are not as great as that reported thus far using laboratory media.