Project description:Despite the scientific and applied interest in anaerobic metabolism of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, not all genes whose transcription is up-regulated under anaerobic conditions have yet been linked to known transcription factors. Experiments with a reporter construct in which the promoter of the anaerobically up-regulated TIR1 gene was fused to LacZ revealed a complete loss of anaerobic up-regulation in a snf7Δ mutant. Anaerobic up-regulation was restored by expression of a truncated allele of RIM101 that encodes for a constitutively active Rim101p transcription factor. Analysis of LacZ expression in several deletion mutants confirmed that the effect of Snf7p on anaerobic up-regulation of TIR1 involved Rim101p and did not require a functional multi-vesicular body sorting pathway (in which Snf7p also participates). Transcriptome analysis in anaerobic chemostat cultures revealed that 26 additional genes exhibited a Snf7p/Rim101p dependent anaerobic up-regulation. Since, in its activated form, Rim101p is generally known as a transcriptional repressor, its role in anaerobic up regulation of TIR1 and other ‘anaerobic’ yeast genes must involve additional factors. Further studies with deletion mutants in NRG1, NRG2 and SMP1, which were previously shown to be regulated by Rim101p, showed that these genes were not involved in the regulation of TIR1. However, the aerobic repression mechanism of TIR1 involved the general repressor Ssn6p-Tup1p complex. The physiological relevance of Snf7p/Rim101p-mediated transcriptional up-regulation of several genes in anaerobic yeast cultures was evident from reduced growth of a snf7Δ under anaerobic conditions. Experiment Overall Design: The aim of the present study is to investigate the role of SNF7 in the regulation of TIR1, to assess whether this role involves the Rim101p pathway, and to investigate whether Snf7p and/or Rim101p are also involved in regulation of other ‘anaerobic’ S. cerevisiae genes. After analyzing transcriptional regulation of TIR1 in several genetic backgrounds, a chemostat-based transcriptome analysis was performed on snf7Δ and rim101Δ strains as well as on the isogenic reference strain. Sets of genes that were differentially expressed in the snf7 and rim101 deletion strains were then compared to sets of genes that were previously shown to be transcriptionally up-regulated in anaerobic chemostat cultures of S. cerevisiae (Piper et al., 2002; Tai et al., 2005) Experiment Overall Design: Piper MD, Daran-Lapujade P, Bro C, Regenberg B, Knudsen S, Nielsen J & Pronk JT (2002) Reproducibility of oligonucleotide microarray transcriptome analyses. An interlaboratory comparison using chemostat cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J Biol Chem 277: 37001-37008. Experiment Overall Design: Tai SL, Boer VM, Daran-Lapujade P, Walsh MC, de Winde JH, Daran JM & Pronk JT (2005) Two-dimensional transcriptome analysis in chemostat cultures. Combinatorial effects of oxygen availability and macronutrient limitation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J Biol Chem 280: 437-447.

Project description:Zinc is indispensable for the catalytic activity and structural stability of many proteins, and its deficiency can have severe consequences for microbial growth in natural and industrial environments. For example, Zn depletion in wort negatively affects beer fermentation and quality. Several studies have investigated yeast adaptation to low Zn supply, but were all performed in batch cultures, where specific growth rate depends on Zn availability. The transcriptional responses to growth-rate and Zn availability are then intertwined, which obscures result interpretation. In the present study, transcriptional responses of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to Zn availability were investigated at a fixed specific growth rate under Zn limitation and excess in chemostat culture. To investigate the context-dependency of this transcriptional response, yeast was grown under several chemostat regimes resulting in various carbon (glucose), nitrogen (ammonium) and oxygen supplies. A robust set of genes that responded consistently to Zn limitation was identified and enabled the definition of a Zn-specific Zap1 regulon comprising of 26 genes and characterized by a broader ZRE consensus (MHHAACCBYNMRGGT) than so far described. Most surprising was the Zn-dependent regulation of genes involved in storage carbohydrate metabolism. Their concerted down-regulation was physiologically relevant as revealed by a substantial decrease in glycogen and trehalose cellular content under Zn limitation. An unexpectedly large amount of genes were synergistically or antagonistically regulated by oxygen and Zn availability. This combinatorial regulation suggested a more prominent involvement of Zn in mitochondrial biogenesis and function than hitherto identified Experiment Overall Design: Zinc is indispensable for the catalytic activity and structural stability of many proteins, and its deficiency can have severe consequences for microbial growth in natural and industrial environments. For example, Zn depletion in wort negatively affects beer fermentation and quality. Several studies have investigated yeast adaptation to low Zn supply, but were all performed in batch cultures, where specific growth rate depends on Zn availability. The transcriptional responses to growth-rate and Zn availability are then intertwined, which obscures result interpretation. In the present study, transcriptional responses of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to Zn availability were investigated at a fixed specific growth rate under Zn limitation and excess in chemostat culture. To investigate the context-dependency of this transcriptional response, yeast was grown under several chemostat regimes resulting in various carbon (glucose), nitrogen (ammonium) and oxygen supplies. A robust set of genes that responded consistently to Zn limitation was identified and enabled the definition of a Zn-specific Zap1 regulon comprising of 26 genes and characterized by a broader ZRE consensus (MHHAACCBYNMRGGT) than so far described. Most surprising was the Zn-dependent regulation of genes involved in storage carbohydrate metabolism. Their concerted down-regulation was physiologically relevant as revealed by a substantial decrease in glycogen and trehalose cellular content under Zn limitation. An unexpectedly large amount of genes were synergistically or antagonistically regulated by oxygen and Zn availability. This combinatorial regulation suggested a more prominent involvement of Zn in mitochondrial biogenesis and function than hitherto identified

Project description:In contrast to batch cultivation, chemostat cultivation allows the identification of carbon source responses without interference by carbon-catabolite repression, accumulation of toxic products, and differences in specific growth rate. This study focuses on the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, grown in aerobic, carbon-limited chemostat cultures. Genome-wide transcript levels and in vivo fluxes were compared for growth on two sugars, glucose and maltose, and for two C2-compounds, ethanol and acetate. In contrast to previous reports on batch cultures, few genes (180 genes) responded to changes of the carbon source by a changed transcript level. Very few transcript levels were changed when glucose as the growth-limiting nutrient was compared with maltose (33 transcripts), or when acetate was compared with ethanol (16 transcripts). Although metabolic flux analysis using a stoichiometric model revealed major changes in the central carbon metabolism, only 117 genes exhibited a significantly different transcript level when sugars and C2-compounds were provided as the growthlimiting nutrient. Despite the extensive knowledge on carbon source regulation in yeast, many of the carbon source-responsive genes encoded proteins with unknown or incompletely characterized biological functions. In silico promoter analysis of carbon source-responsive genes confirmed the involvement of several known transcriptional regulators and suggested the involvement of additional regulators. Transcripts involved in the glyoxylate cycle and gluconeogenesis showed a good correlation with in vivo fluxes. This correlation was, however, not observed for other important pathways, including the pentose-phosphate pathway, tricarboxylic acid cycle, and, in particular, glycolysis. These results indicate that in vivo fluxes in the central carbon metabolism of S. cerevisiae grown in steadystate, carbon-limited chemostat cultures are controlled to a large extent via post-transcriptional mechanisms. Experiment Overall Design: Cultivation of microorganisms in chemostats offers numerous advantages for studying the structure and regulation of metabolic networks (11). In chemostat cultures, individual culture parameters can be changed, while keeping other relevant physical and chemical culture parameters (composition of synthetic medium, pH, temperature, aeration, etc.) constant. An especially important parameter in this respect is the specific growth rate, which, in a chemostat, is equal to the dilution rate, which can be accurately controlled. This allows the experimenter to investigate the effects of environmental changes or genetic interventions at a fixed specific growth rate, even if these changes result in different specific growth rates in batch cultures. In a chemostat, growth can be limited by a single, selected nutrient. The very low residual concentrations of this growth-limiting nutrient in chemostat cultures alleviate effects of catabolite repression and inactivation. Furthermore, these low residual substrate concentrations prevent substrate toxicity, which, for example, occurs when S. cerevisiae is grown on ethanol or acetate as the carbon source in batch cultures . Experiment Overall Design: The central goal of the present study is to assess to what extent carbon source-dependent regulation of fluxes through central carbon metabolism in S. cerevisiae is regulated at the level of transcription. To this end, we compare the transcriptome of carbon-limited, aerobic chemostat cultures grown on four different carbon sources: glucose, maltose, ethanol, and acetate. Data from the transcriptome analysis are compared with flux distribution profiles calculated with a stoichiometric metabolic network model. Questions that will be addressed are as follows: (i) does glucose-limited aerobic cultivation lead to a complete alleviation of glucose-catabolite repression; (ii) how (in)complete is our understanding of the genes involved in the transcriptional response of S. cerevisiae to four of the most common carbon sources for this yeast; and (iii) to what extent do transcriptome analyses with microarrays provide a reliable indication of flux distribution in metabolic networks?

Project description:Zinc is indispensable for the catalytic activity and structural stability of many proteins, and its deficiency can have severe consequences for microbial growth in natural and industrial environments. For example, Zn depletion in wort negatively affects beer fermentation and quality. Several studies have investigated yeast adaptation to low Zn supply, but were all performed in batch cultures, where specific growth rate depends on Zn availability. The transcriptional responses to growth-rate and Zn availability are then intertwined, which obscures result interpretation. In the present study, transcriptional responses of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to Zn availability were investigated at a fixed specific growth rate under Zn limitation and excess in chemostat culture. To investigate the context-dependency of this transcriptional response, yeast was grown under several chemostat regimes resulting in various carbon (glucose), nitrogen (ammonium) and oxygen supplies. A robust set of genes that responded consistently to Zn limitation was identified and enabled the definition of a Zn-specific Zap1 regulon comprising of 26 genes and characterized by a broader ZRE consensus (MHHAACCBYNMRGGT) than so far described. Most surprising was the Zn-dependent regulation of genes involved in storage carbohydrate metabolism. Their concerted down-regulation was physiologically relevant as revealed by a substantial decrease in glycogen and trehalose cellular content under Zn limitation. An unexpectedly large amount of genes were synergistically or antagonistically regulated by oxygen and Zn availability. This combinatorial regulation suggested a more prominent involvement of Zn in mitochondrial biogenesis and function than hitherto identified Experiment Overall Design: Zinc is indispensable for the catalytic activity and structural stability of many proteins, and its deficiency can have severe consequences for microbial growth in natural and industrial environments. For example, Zn depletion in wort negatively affects beer fermentation and quality. Several studies have investigated yeast adaptation to low Zn supply, but were all performed in batch cultures, where specific growth rate depends on Zn availability. The transcriptional responses to growth-rate and Zn availability are then intertwined, which obscures result interpretation. In the present study, transcriptional responses of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to Zn availability were investigated at a fixed specific growth rate under Zn limitation and excess in chemostat culture. To investigate the context-dependency of this transcriptional response, yeast was grown under several chemostat regimes resulting in various carbon (glucose), nitrogen (ammonium) and oxygen supplies. A robust set of genes that responded consistently to Zn limitation was identified and enabled the definition of a Zn-specific Zap1 regulon comprising of 26 genes and characterized by a broader ZRE consensus (MHHAACCBYNMRGGT) than so far described. Most surprising was the Zn-dependent regulation of genes involved in storage carbohydrate metabolism. Their concerted down-regulation was physiologically relevant as revealed by a substantial decrease in glycogen and trehalose cellular content under Zn limitation. An unexpectedly large amount of genes were synergistically or antagonistically regulated by oxygen and Zn availability. This combinatorial regulation suggested a more prominent involvement of Zn in mitochondrial biogenesis and function than hitherto identified

Project description:Prolonged cultivation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in aerobic, glucose-limited chemostat cultures (dilution rate, 0Â·10 hâ1) resulted in a progressive decrease of the residual glucose concentration (from 20 to 8 mg lâ1 after 200 generations). This increase in the affinity for glucose was accompanied by a fivefold decrease of fermentative capacity, and changes in cellular morphology. These phenotypic changes were retained when single-cell isolates from prolonged cultures were used to inoculate fresh chemostat cultures, indicating that genetic changes were involved. Kinetic analysis of glucose transport in an âevolvedâ strain revealed a decreased Km, while Vmax was slightly increased relative to the parental strain. Apparently, fermentative capacity in the evolved strain was not controlled by glucose uptake. Instead, enzyme assays in cell extracts of the evolved strain revealed strongly decreased capacities of enzymes in the lower part of glycolysis. This decrease was corroborated by genome-wide transcriptome analysis using DNA microarrays. In aerobic batch cultures on 20 g glucose lâ1, the specific growth rate of the evolved strain was lower than that of the parental strain (0Â·28 and 0Â·37 hâ1, respectively). Instead of the characteristic instantaneous production of ethanol that is observed when aerobic, glucose-limited cultures of wild-type S. cerevisiae are exposed to excess glucose, the evolved strain exhibited a delay of 90 min before aerobic ethanol formation set in. This study demonstrates that the effects of selection in glucose-limited chemostat cultures extend beyond glucose-transport kinetics. Although extensive physiological analysis offered insight into the underlying cellular processes, the evolutionary âdriving forceâ for several of the observed changes remains to be elucidated Experiment Overall Design: A crucial feature of bakers' yeast is its capacity to produce CO2, referred to as fermentative capacity (van Hoek et al., 1998). After prolonged glucose-limited cultivation of S. cerevisiae, in addition to an increased affinity for glucose, we observed a dramatic decrease in fermentative capacity. Consequently, the aim of the present study was to perform an integral analysis of the long-term adaptation of S. cerevisiae during prolonged glucose-limited, aerobic cultivation in chemostat cultures, with special emphasis on the regulation of glucose transport and glycolytic capacity. To this end, we applied an integrated approach that combined transcriptome analysis, measurement of fermentative capacity and activities of glucose transport and glycolytic enzymes, and characterization of cellular morphology.

Project description:Sucrose is a major carbon source for industrial bioethanol production by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In yeasts, two modes of sucrose metabolism occur: (i) extracellular hydrolysis by invertase, followed by uptake and metabolism of glucose and fructose, and (ii) uptake via sucrose-H+ symport followed by intracellular hydrolysis and metabolism. Although alternative start codons in the SUC2 gene enable synthesis of extracellular and intracellular invertase isoforms, sucrose hydrolysis in S. cerevisiae predominantly occurs extracellularly. In anaerobic cultures, intracellular hydrolysis theoretically enables a 9 % higher ethanol yield than extracellular hydrolysis, due to energy costs of sucrose-proton symport. This prediction was tested by engineering the promoter and 5’ coding sequences of SUC2, resulting in relocation of invertase to the cytosol. In anaerobic sucrose-limited chemostats, this iSUC2-strain showed an only 4% increased ethanol yield and high residual sucrose concentrations indicated suboptimal sucrose-transport kinetics. To improve sucrose-uptake affinity, it was subjected to 95 generations of anaerobic, sucrose-limited chemostat cultivation, resulting in a 20-fold decrease of residual sucrose concentrations and a 10-fold increase of the sucrose-transport capacity. A single-cell isolate showed an 11 % higher ethanol yield on sucrose in chemostat and batch cultures than an isogenic SUC2 reference strain, while transcriptome analysis revealed elevated expression of AGT1, encoding a disaccharide-proton symporter, and other maltose-related genes. Deletion of AGT1, which had been duplicated during laboratory evolution, restored the growth characteristics of the unevolved iSUC2 strain. This study demonstrates that engineering the topology of sucrose metabolism is an attractive strategy to improve ethanol yields in industrial processes. The goal of the present study was to investigate whether a relocation of sucrose hydrolysis to the cytosol can be used to improve ethanol yields on sucrose and which additional steps may be required to improve sucrose utilization by strains that only express intracellular invertase. To this end, the SUC2 gene was modified to cause an exclusive intracellular localization. Growth and product formation by the engineered strain were compared with that of the parental strain in anaerobic sucrose-limited chemostat cultures. Subsequently, evolutionary engineering was used to improve sucrose uptake kinetics and an evolved strain was characterized for growth and product formation in chemostat cultures. Transcriptome analysis and gene deletion studies were used to identify genetic changes in the evolved strain that contribute to its improved sucrose-uptake kinetics.

Project description:Physiological effects of carbon dioxide and impact on genome-wide transcript profiles were analysed in chemostat cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In anaerobic, glucose-limited chemostat cultures grown at atmospheric pressure, cultivation under CO2-saturated conditions had only a marginal (<10%) impact on the biomass yield. Conversely, a 25% decrease of the biomass yield was found in aerobic, glucose-limited chemostat cultures aerated with a mixture of 79% CO2 and 21% O2. This observation indicated that respiratory metabolism is more sensitive to CO2 than fermentative metabolism. Consistent with the more pronounced physiological effects of CO2 in respiratory cultures, the number of CO2-responsive transcripts was higher in aerobic cultures than in anaerobic cultures. Many genes involved in mitochondrial functions showed a transcriptional response to elevated CO2 concentrations. This is consistent with an uncoupling effect of CO2 and/or intracellular bicarbonate on the mitochondrial inner membrane. Other transcripts that showed a significant transcriptional response to elevated CO2 included NCE103 (probably encoding carbonic anhydrase), PCK1 (encoding PEP carboxykinase) and members of the IMD gene family (encoding isozymes of inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase Experiment Overall Design: Knowledge on the genome-wide transcriptional response of S. cerevisiae to high CO2 concentrations may provide a deeper insight into the molecular mechanisms of CO2 stress. Such insight is essential to develop metabolic-engineering strategies for improving CO2 tolerance. Furthermore, identification of âsignature transcriptsâ that uniquely respond to CO2 stress may be applicable for diagnosing the CO2 status of industrial fermentations. It has recently been demonstrated that the combination of chemostat cultivation with DNA-microarray-based transcriptome analysis offers a powerful and reproducible approach to identify the transcriptional responses of yeasts to environmental parameters For this reason, in the present study we used chemostat cultures of S. cerevisiae to quantify the effect of CO2 on respiring and fermenting cells, and to determine the genome-wide transcriptional responses of this yeast to high CO2 concentrations.

Dataset Information

Transcription profiling of S. cerevisiae in carbon-limited anaerobic/aerobic growth

Publications

Exploiting combinatorial cultivation conditions to infer transcriptional regulation.

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