HXT5 expression is determined by growth rates in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, hexose transporter (Hxt) proteins transport glucose across the plasma membrane. The Hxt proteins are encoded by a multigene family with 20 members, of which Hxt1-4p and Hxt6-7p are the major hexose transporters. The remaining Hxt proteins have other or unknown functions. In this study, expression of HXT5 under different experimental set-ups is determined. In glucose-grown batch cultures, HXT5 is expressed prior to glucose depletion. Independent of the carbon source used in batch cultures, HXT5 is expressed after 24 h of growth and during growth on ethanol or glycerol, which indicates that growth on glucose is not necessary for expression of HXT5. Increasing the temperature or osmolarity of the growth medium also induces expression of HXT5. In fed-batch cultures, expression of HXT5 is only observed at low glucose consumption rates, independent of the extracellular glucose concentration. The only common parameter in these experiments is that an increase of HXT5 expression is accompanied by a decrease of the growth rate of cells. To determine whether HXT5 expression is determined by the growth rate, cells were grown in a nitrogen-limited continuous culture, which enables modulation of only the growth rate of cells. Indeed, HXT5 is expressed only at low dilution rates. Therefore, our results indicate that expression of HXT5 is regulated by growth rates of cells, rather than by extracellular glucose concentrations, as is the case for the major HXTs. A possible function for Hxt5p and factors responsible for increased expression of HXT5 upon low growth rates is discussed.     

酿酒酵母中的蔗糖转换酶基因(SUC2)研究进展

蔗糖转换酶基因(SUC2)编码蔗糖转换酶(Invertase),通过降解酵母细胞外的蔗糖成果糖和葡萄糖来提供酵母生长所需的碳源,在以蔗糖为主要碳源的培养条件下,蔗糖转换酶对于酵母生长必不可少.因此研究蔗糖转换酶基因序列、转录、调控等对酵母蔗糖代谢具有重要意义.蔗糖转换酶基因的表达受葡萄糖浓度、氧气和其在染色体上的位置等因素的影响.本文就葡萄糖浓度对SUC2表达的影响以及葡萄糖浓度对其表达调控的机制进行了综述,并展望了该基因及蔗糖转换酶在今后的应用和研究趋势.     

高糖胁迫下槲皮素对酿酒酵母胞内损伤的保护作用与机制

以酿酒酵母S288c为模型,分析高糖胁迫下槲皮素对其胞内损伤的保护作用及机制。结果表明:与对照相比,高糖胁迫不影响酵母胞内活性氧(reactive oxygen species,ROS)水平,但显著降低了胞内酶比活力(P0.05);槲皮素处理后,与对照组和高糖组相比,酿酒酵母胞内ROS水平、超氧化物歧化酶和过氧化氢酶活力均显著下降(P0.05),而过氧化物酶(peroxidase,POD)比活力极显著升高(P0.01),说明POD比活力对高糖耐受性反应更为灵敏,可作为衡量高糖胁迫应激机制的重要生理指标,槲皮素可通过调节胞内POD比活力来提高机体的抗氧化能力。另外,实时荧光定量聚合酶链式反应结果表明高质量浓度葡萄糖显著抑制了酵母中GPD2和SUC2的表达水平(P0.05),并极显著提高了HXT1的表达水平(P0.01),而对GUT1的表达影响不显著;槲皮素处理后,高糖胁迫下酵母中GPD2、SUC2和HXT1的表达水平显著提高(P0.05),而GUT1无显著变化,说明槲皮素可能通过高渗透甘油途径、菊糖水解途径和己糖转运途径等来促进葡萄糖的分解代谢,从而达到保护机体细胞免受伤害的作用。结果表明槲皮素对高糖诱导的酿酒酵母胞内损伤具有保护作用,其作用机制可能与自身的抗氧化作用以及利用调节机体内高渗透甘油途径与糖的分解和转运途径存在一定的关联性。     

Allelic variants of hexose transporter Hxt3p and hexokinases Hxk1p/Hxk2p in strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and interspecies hybrids

The transport of sugars across the plasma membrane is a critical step in the utilization of glucose and fructose by Saccharomyces cerevisiae during must fermentations. Variations in the molecular structure of hexose transporters and kinases may affect the ability of wine yeast strains to finish sugar fermentation, even under stressful wine conditions. In this context, we sequenced and compared genes encoding the hexose transporter Hxt3p and the kinases Hxk1p/Hxk2p of Saccharomyces strains and interspecies hybrids with different industrial usages and regional backgrounds. The Hxt3p primary structure varied in a small set of amino acids, which characterized robust yeast strains used for the production of sparkling wine or to restart stuck fermentations. In addition, interspecies hybrid strains, previously isolated at the end of spontaneous fermentations, revealed a common amino acid signature. The location and potential influence of the amino acids exchanges is discussed by means of a first modelled Hxt3p structure. In comparison, hexokinase genes were more conserved in different Saccharomyces strains and hybrids. Thus, molecular variants of the hexose carrier Hxt3p, but not of kinases, correlate with different fermentation performances of yeast. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ady2p is essential for the acetate permease activity in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

To identify new genes involved in acetate uptake in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, an analysis of the gene expression profiles of cells shifted from glucose to acetic acid was performed. The gene expression reprogramming of yeast adapting to a poor non-fermentable carbon source was observed, including dramatic metabolic changes, global activation of translation machinery, mitochondria biogenesis and the induction of known or putative transporters. Among them, the gene ADY2/YCR010c was identified as a new key element for acetate transport, being homologous to the Yarrowia lipolytica GPR1 gene, which has a role in acetic acid sensitivity. Disruption of ADY2 in S. cerevisiae abolished the active transport of acetate. Microarray analyses of ady2Delta strains showed that this gene is not a critical regulator of acetate response and that its role is directly connected to acetate transport. Ady2p is predicted to be a membrane protein and is a valuable acetate transporter candidate.     

Effects of sugars in growth media,diluents and enumeration media on survival and recovery of Saccharomyces cerevisiae heated in peach puree

Thermal resistance, injury and recovery of Saccharomyces cerevisiae heated in peach puree were studied. The effects of sucrose, glucose and fructose in puree and in recovery media were avaluated. In addition, the influence of sucrose in growth media and diluent on susceptibility to injury and extent of resuscitation were examined. Cells cultured in broth supplemented with sucrose had increased resistance to heat. The presence of sucrose, glucose and fructose in peach puree protected cells against thermal inactivation, whereas sucrose tended to be less inhibitory to stressed cells in enumeration media when compared to glucose and fructose. Repair of heat-stressed cells was retarded by holding cells in diluent containing sucrose and a reduced level of peach puree. These observations must be considered if pasteurization processes for peach products such as puree and concentrate are to be optimized. Results will also be of value to those selecting procedures for enumerating thermally injured yeast cells.     

Characterisation of genes encoding key enzymes involved in sugar metabolism of apple fruit in controlled atmosphere storage

Sugars are essential contributors to fruit flavour. Controlled atmosphere (CA) storage has been proved to be beneficial for maintaining harvested fruit quality. To explore regulatory mechanism of sugar metabolism in fruit stored in CA condition, we cloned several genes, encoding key enzymes, involved in sugar metabolism in apple fruit, and analyzed sugar contents, along with gene expression and enzyme activities in fruits stored in air and CA. The results indicated that CA could maintain higher contents of sugars, including sucrose, fructose and glucose. Expression levels of key genes, such as sucrose synthase (SS), sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS), fructokinase (FK) and hexokinase (HK), were shown to be correlated with the corresponding enzyme activities. We found that activities of neutral invertase (NI), vacuolar invertase (VI), FK and HK were inhibited, but SPS activity was promoted in apple fruit stored in CA, suggesting that CA storage could enhance sucrose synthesis and delay hydrolysis of sucrose and hexose. These findings provided molecular evidence to explain why higher sugar levels in harvested fruit are maintained under CA storage.     

The hexose transporters of Saccharomyces cerevisiae play different roles during enological fermentation

We investigated the role of hexose transporters in a Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain derived from an industrial wine strain by carrying out a functional analysis of HXT genes 1-7 under enological conditions. A strain in which the sugar carrier genes HXT1-HXT7 were deleted was constructed and the HXT genes were expressed individually or in combination to evaluate their role under wine alcoholic fermentation conditions. No growth or fermentation was observed in winemaking conditions for the hxt1-7 delta strain. The low-affinity carriers Hxt1 and Hxt3 were the only carriers giving complete fermentation of sugars when expressed alone, indicating that these carriers play a predominant role in wine fermentation. However, these two carriers have different functions. The Hxt3 transporter is thought to play a major role, as it was the only carrier that gave an almost normal fermentation profile when produced alone. The hxt1 carrier was much less effective during the stationary phase and its role is thought to be restricted to the beginning of fermentation. The high-affinity carriers Hxt2, Hxt6 and/or Hxt7 were also required for normal fermentation. These high-affinity transporters have different functions: hxt2 is involved in growth initiation, whereas Hxt6 and/or Hxt7 are required at the end of alcoholic fermentation. This work shows that the successful alcoholic fermentation of wine involves at least four or five hexose carriers, playing different roles at various stages in the fermentation cycle.     

THE INFLUENCE OF MEDIA CONDITIONS ON THE UTILISATION OF MONOSACCHARIDES BY A STRAIN OF SACCHAROMYCES UVARUM (CARLSBERGENSIS)

The utilisation of glucose and fructose by the brewing yeast species Saccharomyces uvarum (carlsbergensis) was investigated. When sucrose was used as the substrate, one of the hydrolysis products, glucose was taken up preferentially over the other hydrolysis product fructose. However, when glucose and fructose were added separately to the media, the uptake profile for each sugar was very similar. Growth promoting media enhanced the differential uptake, whereas non-growth promoting media reduced it. Increase in osmotic pressure of the medium eliminated the preferential uptake of glucose over fructose. The results suggest the presence of a complex uptake system and could be explained by a combination of (1) molecular configuration of the sugars in aqueous solutions, (2) differential phosphorylation effect of glucose and fructose and (3) intracellular accumulation of ethanol in yeast.     

PITCHING RATES RELATED TO GLUCOSE AND FRUCTOSE UTILIZATION IN Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Pitching rates, in the range 1.5 g/litre to 24 g/litre of yeast in high gravity sucrose adjunct laboratory-scale wort fermentations, are directly proportional to the natural logarithm of glucose utilization throughout fermentation, whereas this relationship only holds for fructose utilization during the intermediate phases. The natural logarithmic rate of fructose utilization in the latter stages of fermentation remains constant irrespective of the pitching rate used. Adjustment of the pitching rate allows residual fructose concentrations at the end of fermentation to be regulated such that they remain below the fructose taste threshold in beer. The difference in utilization rates produced by the preferential utilization of glucose over fructose appears to remain constant irrespective of the pitching rate used. This differential may be ascribed to the competitive inhibition of fructose transport by glucose for their common hexose constitutive facilitated diffusion membrane transport system in S. cerevisiae.     

Differential effects of glucose and fructose on hexose metabolism in dog spermatozoa

Incubation of dog spermatozoa with 10 mmol l(-1) glucose or fructose rapidly increased the intracellular content of glucose 6-phosphate and fructose 6-phosphate, although the effect of fructose was greater. These effects were correlated with increases in ATP, ribose 5-phosphate and glycogen contents, and in the rates of formation of L-lactate and CO2. In all cases, except for ATP and glycogen, the effect of fructose was greater than that of glucose. The total hexokinase activity of the crude extracts of dog spermatozoa was more sensitive to fructose than to glucose at lower concentrations (0.1-3.0 mmol l(-1)). Both monosaccharides induced a fast and intense increase in the overall tyrosine phosphorylation of dog spermatozoa, although their specific induced-phosphorylation patterns differed slightly. Glut 3 and Glut 5 hexose transporters were the main hexose transporters in dog spermatozoa; however, other possible SGLT family-related hexose transporters were also localized. These data indicate that, at concentrations from 1 mmol l(-1) to 10 mmol l(-1), fructose has a stronger effect than glucose on hexose metabolism of dog spermatozoa. These differences appear to be related to variations in the sensitivity of hexokinase activity. Moreover, the differential hexose metabolism induced by the two sugars had distinct effects on the function of dog spermatozoa, as revealed by the diverse patterns of tyrosine phosphorylation.