Transcriptional profiling reveals molecular basis and novel genetic targets for improved resistance to multiple fermentation inhibitors in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Issue 1 (December 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chen, Yingying; Sheng, Jiayuan; Jiang, Tao; Stevens, Joseph; Feng, Xueyang; Wei, Na
• Is Part Of: Biotechnology for biofuels. Volume 9:Issue 1(2016)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 18
• Publication Date: 2016-12
• Subjects: Yeast -- Acetic acid -- Furfural -- RNA-seq -- Transcription factors -- Metabolic engineering; Biotechnology -- Periodicals; Biomass energy -- Periodicals; Energy-Generating Resources -- Periodicals; 662.88
• DOI: 10.1186/s13068-015-0418-5
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1754-6834

Abstract

Abstract Background Lignocellulosic biomass is a promising source of renewable biofuels. However, pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass generates fermentation inhibitors that adversely affect the growth of industrial microorganisms such asSaccharomyces cerevisiae and prevent economic production of lignocellulosic biofuels. A critical challenge on developingS. cerevisiae with improved inhibitor resistance lies in incomplete understanding of molecular basis for inhibitor stress response and limited information on effective genetic targets for increasing yeast resistance to mixed fermentation inhibitors. In this study, we applied comparative transcriptomic analysis to determine the molecular basis for acetic acid and/or furfural resistance inS. cerevisiae . Results We recently developed a yeast strain YC1 with superior resistance to acetic acid, furfural, and their mixture through inverse metabolic engineering. In this study, we first determined transcriptional changes through RNA sequencing in YC1 versus the wild-type strain S-C1 under three different inhibitor conditions, including acetic acid alone, furfural alone, and mixture of acetic acid and furfural. The genes associated with stress responses ofS. cerevisiae to single and mixed inhibitors were revealed. Specifically, we identified 184 consensus genes that were differentially regulated in response to the distinct inhibitor resistance between YC1 and S-C1. Bioinformatic analysis next revealed key transcription factors (TFs) that regulate these consensus genes. The top TFs identified, Sfp1p and Ace2p, were experimentally tested as overexpression targets for strain optimization. Overexpression of theSFP1 gene improved specific ethanol productivity by nearly four times, while overexpression of theACE2 gene enhanced the rate by three times in the presence of acetic acid and furfural. Overexpression ofSFP1 gene in the resistant strain YC1 further resulted in 42 % increase in ethanol productivity in the presence of acetic acid and furfural, suggesting the effect of Sfp1p in optimizing the yeast strain for improved tolerance to mixed fermentation inhibitor. Conclusions Transcriptional regulation underlying yeast resistance to acetic acid and furfural was determined. Two transcription factors, Sfp1p and Ace2p, were uncovered for the first time for their functions in improving yeast resistance to mixed fermentation inhibitors. The study demonstrated an omics-guided metabolic engineering framework, which could be developed as a promising strategy to improve complex microbial phenotypes.