Integrated expression of the α-amylase, dextranase and glutathione gene in an industrial brewer's yeast strain.

Genetic engineering is widely used to meliorate biological characteristics of industrial brewing yeast. But how to solve multiple problems at one time has become the bottle neck in the genetic modifications of industrial yeast strains. In a newly constructed strain TYRL21, dextranase gene was expressed in addition of α-amylase to make up α-amylase's shortcoming which can only hydrolyze α-1,4-glycosidic bond. Meanwhile, 18s rDNA repeated sequence was used as the homologous sequence for an effective and stable expression of LSD1 gene. As a result, TYRL21 consumed about twice much starch than the host strain. Moreover TYRL21 speeded up the fermentation which achieved the maximum cell number only within 3 days during EBC tube fermentation. Besides, flavor evaluation comparing TYRL21 and wild type brewing strain Y31 also confirmed TYRL21's better performances regarding its better saccharides utilization (83% less in residual saccharides), less off-flavor compounds (57% less in diacetyl, 39% less in acetaldehyde, 67% less in pentanedione), and improved stability index (increased by 49%) which correlated with sensory evaluation of final beer product.

Construction of self-cloning, indigenous wine strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae with enhanced glycerol and glutathione production.

To improve wine taste and flavor stability, a novel indigenous strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae with enhanced glycerol and glutathione (GSH) production for winemaking was constructed. ALD6 encoding an aldehyde dehydrogenases of the indigenous yeast was replaced by a GPD1 and CUP1 gene cassette, which are responsible for NAD-dependent glycerol-3-phosphatase dehydrogenase and copper resistance, respectively. Furthermore, the α-acetohydroxyacid synthase gene ILV2 of the indigenous yeast was disrupted by integration of the GSH1 gene which encodes γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase and the CUP1 gene cassette. The fermentation capacity of the recombinant was similar to that of the wild-type strain, with an increase of 21 and 19 % in glycerol and GSH production. No heterologous DNA was harbored in the recombinant in this study.

Improvement of robustness and ethanol production of ethanologenic Saccharomyces cerevisiae under co-stress of heat and inhibitors.

Bioethanol is an attractive alternative to fossil fuels. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the most important ethanol producer. However, yeast cells are challenged by various environmental stresses during the industrial process of ethanol production. The robustness under heat, acetic acid, and furfural stresses was improved for ethanologenic S. cerevisiae in this work using genome shuffling. Recombinant yeast strain R32 could grow at 45°C, and resist 0.55% (v/v) acetic acid and 0.3% (v/v) furfural at 40°C. When ethanol fermentation was conducted at temperatures ranging from 30 to 42°C, recombinant strain R32 always gave high ethanol production. After 42 h of fermentation at 42°C, 187.6 ± 1.4 g/l glucose was utilized by recombinant strain R32 to produce 81.4 ± 2.7 g/l ethanol, which were respectively 3.4 and 4.1 times those of CE25. After 36 h of fermentation at 40°C with 0.5% (v/v) acetic acid, 194.4 ± 1.2 g/l glucose in the medium was utilized by recombinant strain R32 to produce 84.2 ± 4.6 g/l of ethanol. The extent of glucose utilization and ethanol concentration of recombinant strain R32 were 6.3 and 7.9 times those of strain CE25. The ethanol concentration produced by recombinant strain R32 was 8.9 times that of strain CE25 after fermentation for 48 h under 0.2% (v/v) furfural stress at 40°C. The strong physiological robustness and fitness of yeast strain R32 support its potential application for industrial production of bioethanol from renewable resources such as lignocelluloses.

Improvement of acetic acid tolerance and fermentation performance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae by disruption of the FPS1 aquaglyceroporin gene.

The FPS1 gene coding for the Fps1p aquaglyceroporin protein of an industrial strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was disrupted by inserting CUP1 gene. Wild-type strain, CE25, could only grow on YPD medium containing less than 0.45% (v/v) acetic acid, while recombinant strain T12 with FPS1 disruption could grow on YPD medium with 0.6% (v/v) acetic acid. Under 0.4% (v/v) acetic acid stress (pH 4.26), ethanol production and cell growth rates of T12 were 1.7 ± 0.1 and 0.061 ± 0.003 g/l h, while those of CE25 were 1.2 ± 0.1 and 0.048 ± 0.003 g/l h, respectively. FPS1 gene disruption in an industrial ethanologenic yeast thus increases cell growth and ethanol yield under acetic acid stress, which suggests the potential utility of FPS1 gene disruption for bioethanol production from renewable resources such as lignocelluloses.

Construction of amylolytic industrial brewing yeast strain with high glutathione content for manufacturing beer with improved anti-staling capability and flavor.

Glutathione in beer works as the main antioxidant compounds which correlates with beer flavor stability. High residual sugars in beer contribute to major non-volatile components which correlate to high caloric content. In this work, Saccharomyces cerevisiae GSH1 gene encoding glutamylcysteine synthetase and Scharomycopsis fibuligera ALP1 gene encoding alpha-amylase were co-expressed in industrial brewing yeast strain Y31 targeting at alpha-acetolactate synthase (AHAS) gene (ILV2) and alcohol dehydrogenase gene (ADH2), and new recombinant strain TY3 was constructed. The glutathione content from the fermentation broth of TY3 increased to 43.83 mg/l compared to 33.34 mg/l from Y31. The recombinant strain showed high alpha-amylase activity and utilized more than 46% of starch after 5 days growing on starch as sole carbon source. European Brewery Convention tube fermentation tests comparing the fermentation broth of TY3 and Y31 showed that the flavor stability index increased to 1.3 fold and residual sugar concentration were reduced by 76.8%, respectively. Due to the interruption of ILV2 gene and ADH2 gene, the amounts of off-flavor compounds diacetyl and acetaldehyde were reduced by 56.93% and 31.25%, comparing with the amounts of these from Y31 fermentation broth. In addition, as no drug-resistance genes were introduced to new recombinant strain, consequently, it should be more suitable for use in beer industry because of its better flavor stability and other beneficial characteristics.

Construction of an industrial brewing yeast strain to manufacture beer with low caloric content and improved flavor.

In this study, the problems of high caloric content, increased maturation time and off-flavors in commercial beer manufacture arising from residual sugar, diacetyl, and acetaldehyde levels were addressed. A recombinant industrial brewing yeast strain (TQ1) was generated from T1 [Lipomyces starkeyi dextranase gene (LSD1) introduced, alpha-acetohydroxyacid synthase gene (ILV2) disrupted] by introducing Saccharomyces cerevisiae glucoamylase (SGA1) and a strong promoter PGK1 while disrupting the genes coding alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH2). The highest glucoamylase activity for TQ1 was 93.26 U/ml compared with host strain T1 (12.36 U/ml) and wild-type industrial yeast strain YSF5 (10.39 U/ml), respectively. European Brewery Convention (EBC) tube fermentation tests comparing the fermentation broths of TQ1 with T1 and YSF5 showed that the real extract were reduced by 15.79% and 22.47%; the main residual maltotriose concentration were reduced by 13.75% and 18.82%; the caloric content were reduced by 27.18 and 35.39 calories per 12 oz. Due to the disruption of ADH2 gene in TQ1, the off-flavor acetaldehyde concentration in the fermentation broth were 9.43% and 13.28% respectively lower than that of T1 and YSF5. No heterologous DNA sequences or drug-resistance genes were introduced into TQ1. So, the gene manipulations in this work properly solved the addressed problems in commercial beer manufacture.

Recombinant industrial brewing yeast strains with ADH2 interruption using self-cloning GSH1+CUP1 cassette.

A self-cloning module for gene knock-out and knock-in in industrial brewing yeast strain was constructed that contains copper resistance and gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase gene cassette, flanked by alcohol dehydrogenase II gene (ADH2) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The module was used to obtain recombined strains RY1 and RY2 by targeting the ADH2 locus of host Y1. RY1 and RY2 were genetically stable. PCR and enzyme activity analysis of RY1 and RY2 cells showed that one copy of ADH2 was deleted by GSH1+CUP1 insertion, and an additional copy of wild type was still present. The fermentation ability of the recombinants was not changed after genetic modification, and a high level of glutathione (GSH) was secreted, resulting from GSH1 overexpression, which codes for gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase. A pilot-scale brewing test for RY1 and RY2 indicated that acetaldehyde content in fermenting liquor decreased by 21-22%, GSH content increased by 20-22% compared with the host, the antioxidizability of the recombinants was improved, and the sensorial evaluation was also better than that of the host. No heterologous DNA was harbored in the recombinants; therefore, they could be applied in the beer industry in terms of their biosafety.

Deletion of tandem repeats causes flocculation phenotype conversion from Flo1 to NewFlo in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

A gene, FLONS, conferring NewFlo-type flocculation ability in yeast was cloned. The 3,396-bp ORF encoded a peptide of 1,132 amino acids with high identity to Flo1 protein. Aligned with the FLO1 gene, two repeated regions (675 and 540 bp) were lost in the middle of FLONS, revealing that this gene was a derived form of the FLO1 gene. The missing repeated sequence contained three highly homologous repeat units. Although the flocculation phenotype of the transformant YTS-S with the FLONS gene was inhibited by both mannose and glucose, it exhibited some distinguished physiological characteristics from the reported typical NewFlo-type flocculation during detailed investigation. The deletion of repeats was suspected to cause conversion of the flocculation phenotype from Flo1 to NewFlo, suggesting that intragenic tandem repeats generated functional variability in Flo1 protein.

New industrial brewing yeast strains with ILV2 disruption and LSD1 expression.

New industrial brewing yeast strains, free of vector sequences and drug-resistance genes, were constructed by disrupting alpha-acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS) gene (ILV2) and introducing Lipomyces starkeyi dextranase (DEX) gene (LSD1) as a selective marker. The resulting recombinant strains can survive on YNB minimal medium plate with dextran T-70 as sole carbon source and showed lower AHAS activity. Fermentation test with recombinant strains in 500 ml conical flask confirmed DEX activity and lower AHAS activity compared with their host strain. Moreover, the fermentative performance of recombinant strains T1 and Q9 was better than their host, and the residual sugar content was reduced by 20-25% in fermented wort with recombinant strains compared to their host, too.

Over-expression of GSH1 gene and disruption of PEP4 gene in self-cloning industrial brewer's yeast.

Foam stability is often influenced by proteinase A, and flavor stability is often affected by oxidation during beer storage. In this study, PEP4, the gene coding for proteinase A, was disrupted in industrial brewing yeast. In the meantime, one copy of GSH1 gene increased in the same strain. GSH1 is responsible for gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase, a rate-limiting enzyme for synthesis of glutathione which is one kind of important antioxidant and beneficial to beer flavor stability. In order to improve the brewer's yeast, plasmid pYPEP, pPC and pPCG1 were firstly constructed, which were recombined plasmids with PEP4 gene, PEP4's disruption and PEP4's disruption+GSH1 gene respectively. These plasmids were verified to be correct by restriction enzymes' assay. By digesting pPCG1 with AatII and PstI, the DNA fragment for homologous recombination was obtained carrying PEP4 sequence in the flank and GSH1 gene internal to the fragment. Since self-cloning technique was applied in the study and the modified genes were from industrial brewing yeast itself, the improved strains, self-cloning strains, were safe to public. The genetic stability of the improved strains was 100%. The results of PCR analysis of genome DNA showed that coding sequence of PEP4 gene had been deleted and GSH1 gene had been inserted into the locus of PEP4 gene in self-cloning strains. The fermentation ability of self-cloning strain, SZ-1, was similar to that of the host. Proteinase A could not be detected in beer brewed with SZ-1, and GSH content in the beer increased 35% compared to that of the host, Z-1.

[Effect of over-expression of sterol C-22 desaturase on ergosterol production in yeast strains].

Ergosterol, the main sterol in yeast, is responsible for structural membrane features such as fluidity and permeability. Additionally, ergosterol is economically important as a precursor of vitamin D2. The biosynthesis of sterols in yeast is complex. As an enzyme of the later ergosterol biosynthesis, the sterol C-22 desaturase encoded by ERG5 gene is required to form the C-22 (23) double bond in the sterol side chain. In order to know the regulation of C-22 sterol desaturase in the ergosterol biosynthesis, ERG5 gene was cloned and over-expressed in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Primer 1 (5'-GTCGGTACCTCCAATGACAATAAATACC-3', Kpn I) and primer 2 (5'-AAGGATCCTAGCAGATCATTAGCTGTAG-3', BamH I) were designed according to the ERG5 sequence in GenBank. A 1.8 kb DNA fragment containing the open reading frame and terminator of ERG5 gene was amplified from Saccharomyces cerevisiae YSF-20 by PCR and inserted into YEp352 to generate recombinant plasmid pYE5. To express ERG5 gene properly in S. cerevisiae, the recombinant expression plasmid pYPE5 containing ERG5 from pYE5 under the control of PGK1 promoter, the URA3 gene as the selection marker and the plasmid YEp352 as the vector was constructed, and then they were introduced into Saccharomyces cerevisiae YS58. To make sure the plasmid pYPE5 in the YS58 acted properly, the disruptant (YSE5) was created by deleting a 0.4 kb fragment of ERG5 gene and inserting the CUP1 gene into the ERG5 and transforming the YS58. And then the disruptant (YSE5) was transformed with the plasmid pYPE5 carrying the corresponding complementing ERG5 gene to control the activity of the over-expressed ERG5 gene and restauration of the wild-type sterol pattern. The sterol profile of the disruptant (YSE5) demonstrated that ergosta-5, 7-dien-3beta-ol was accumulated which was very similar to ergosterol but with a saturated side chain. In contrast, the YSE5 (pYPE5) strain contains predominantly ergosterol. The sterol content of the transformant was analyzed using gas chromatography (GC) analysis. The result shows that ergosterol production in recombinant strains was reduced. And the experiment of the effect of culturing time shows that ergosterol productions in recombinant strains were always lower than YS58 (pYPE5) from 24-48 h culturing time. Under the optimal culture condition, ergosterol content in recombinant strain YS58 (pYPE5) was about 0.70-fold of that in the referring strain.

[Construction of high sulphite-producing industrial strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae].

In the process of beer storage and transportation, off-flavor can be produced for oxidation of beer. Sulphite is important for stabilizing the beer flavor because of its antioxidant activity. However, the low level of sulphite synthesized by the brewing yeast is not enough to stabilize beer flavor. Three enzymes involve sulphite biosynthesis in yeast. One of them, APS kinase (encoded by MET14) plays important role in the process of sulphite formation. In order to construct high sulphite-producing brewing yeast strain for beer production, MET14 gene was cloned and overexpressed in industrial strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Primer 1 (5'-TGTGAATTCCTGTACACCAATGGCTACT-3', EcoR I) and primer 2 (5'-TATAAGCTTGATGA GGTGGATGAAGACG-3', HindIII) were designed according to the MET14 sequence in GenBank. A 1.1kb DNA fragment containing the open reading frame and terminator of MET14 gene was amplified from Saccharomyces cerevisiae YSF-5 by PCR, and inserted into YEp352 to generate recombinant plasmid pMET14. To express MET14 gene properly in S. cerevisiae, the recombinant expression plasmids pPM with URA3 gene as the selection marker and pCPM with URA3 gene and copper resistance gene as the selection marker for yeast transformation were constructed. In plasmid pPM, the PGK1 promoter from plasmid pVC727 was fused with the MET14 gene from pMET14, and the expression cassette was inserted into the plasmid YEp352. The dominant selection marker, copper-resistance gene expression cassette CUP1-MTI was inserted in plasmid pPM to result in pCPM. Restriction enzyme analysis showed that plasmids pPM and pCPM were constructed correctly. The laboratory strain of S. cerevisiae YS58 with ura3, trp1, leu2, his4 auxotroph was transformed with plasmid pPM. Yeast transformants were screened on synthetic minimal medium (SD) containing leucine, histidine and tryptophan. The sulphite production of the transformants carrying pPM was 2 fold of that in the control strain YS58, which showed that the MET14 gene on plasmid pPM was expressed functionally in YS58. The industrial brewing yeast strain YSF-38 was transformed with the plasmid pCPM and yeast transformants were selected on YEPD medium containing 4mmol/L copper sulphate. The recombinant strain carrying pCPM showed a 3.2-fold increase in sulphite production when compared to the host strain YSF-38 under laboratory culture conditions. Flask fermentation under brewing-like conditions was performed in Tsingtao Beer Brewery. The sulphite production of the recombinant strain began to be higher than that of the host strain YSF-38 at the fourth day and reached the maximum at the eighth day. At the end of fermentation, the sulphite produced by recombinant strain is 1.4 fold of that in the host strain. The overexpression of MET14 gene in both laboratory and industrial strains of S. cerevisiae increases the sulphite formation. It is the first time to construct high sulphite-producing industrial strain by functional expression of MET14 in S. cerevisiae. Such study provides the foundation for construction of an excellent brewing yeast strain that can produce proper sulphite and can be used in commercial beer production.

[Genetically modified industrial brewing yeast with high-glutathione and low-diacetyl production].

Recombinant plasmid pICG was constructed by replacing the internal fragment of a-acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS) gene (ILV2) with a copy of gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase gene (GSH1) and copper chelatin gene (CUP1) from the industrial brewing yeast strain YSF31. YSF31 was transformed with plasmid pICG linearized by Kpn I and Pst I. A recombinant strain with high-glutathione and low-diacetyl production was selected. The results of fermentation in 100-L bioreactor showed that the lagering time of beer produced for recombinant strain T2 was shortened by 3 days and the shelf life of the beer was prolonged about 50%. It may be more acceptable for the commercial application, as it does not contain foreign DNA.

[The breeding and culture condition optimization of a high-biomass, selenium-enriched yeast strain].

The yeast fusant ZFF-28, which is high in biomass production and rich in selenium, was constructed after mutagenesis and protoplasts fusion between yeast strains. The total selenium content of ZFF-28 is 1.8 and 1.0 times higher than that of the parental strains Saccharomyces cerevisiae ZY-67 and Saccharomyces kluyveri SZY-198 respectively. Using single factor tests and a L16(4(3) x 2(1)) orthogonal design, the cultivation conditions was optimized as: 50mL culture in 250mL shake flasks in molasses containing 6% sugar and 60microg/mL Se at 28 degree C for 25h at 220 r/min, with the initial pH adjusted to 6.0 - 6.5. Under the optimized conditions, the biomass (dry weight) reached 8.2g/L and the Se content of the cells reached 2050microg/g, with organic and inorganic Se contents being 91% and 9% respectively.