Proteomic analysis of calcium alginate-immobilized Saccharomyces cerevisiae under high-gravity fermentation conditions

Saccharomyces cerevisiae KAY446 cells immobilized in calcium alginate gel, and supplemented with additional amino acids, were successfully used in enhancing ethanol production. This combination succeeded in improving the ethanol yield and reducing the fermentation time. The ethanol yield under these conditions was 0.40 g of ethanol/g of glucose, with a final ethanol concentration of 118 g/L after 72 h. This is compared to yields with immobilized cells alone of 0.35 g of ethanol/g of glucose and freely suspended cells with no amino acid supplementation of 0.30 g of ethanol/g of glucose, under the same VHG conditions. The maximum specific ethanol production rates were 0.98, 0.73, and 0.61 g (g dry weight) (-1) h (-1) for immobilized cells under VHG conditions with and without amino acid supplementation and free cells, respectively. A proteomic analysis showed significant stimulation of many pathways during fermentation under these conditions, including the Ras/cAMP, glycolysis, starch, and sucrose pathways, amino acids biosynthesis, and aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases. The upregulation of ribosomal, heat-shock proteins and proteins involved in cell viability confirmed that protein biosynthesis was accelerated and revealed likely mechanisms for improving cellular viability.