Acquisition of the ability to assimilate mannitol by Saccharomyces cerevisiae through dysfunction of the general corepressor Tup1-Cyc8.

ABSTRACT: Saccharomyces cerevisiae normally cannot assimilate mannitol, a promising brown macroalgal carbon source for bioethanol production. The molecular basis of this inability remains unknown. We found that cells capable of assimilating mannitol arose spontaneously from wild-type S. cerevisiae during prolonged culture in mannitol-containing medium. Based on microarray data, complementation analysis, and cell growth data, we demonstrated that acquisition of mannitol-assimilating ability was due to spontaneous mutations in the genes encoding Tup1 or Cyc8, which constitute a general corepressor complex that regulates many kinds of genes. We also showed that an S. cerevisiae strain carrying a mutant allele of CYC8 exhibited superior salt tolerance relative to other ethanologenic microorganisms; this

SUBMITTER: Chujo M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4272704 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature