Effect of RIM21 gene disruption on flocculation of lager yeast / 生物工程学报

Lager yeast is the most popular yeast strain used for beer production in China. The flocculation of yeast plays an important role in cell separation at the end of fermentation. Therefore, appropriately enhancing the flocculation capability of the lager yeast without affecting its fermentation performance would be desirable for beer industry. Our previous study showed that the defect of gene RIM21 might contribute to the enhanced flocculation capability of a lager yeast G03. To further investigate the role of the RIM21 gene in flocculation of strain G03, this study constructed a RIM21-deleted mutant strain G03-RIM21Δ through homologous recombination. Deletion of RIM21 improved the flocculation capability of strain G03 during wort fermentation at 11 °C without changing its fermentation performance significantly. The expression of FLO5, Lg-FLO1 and some other genes involved in cell wall integrity pathway were up-regulated in strain G03-RIM21Δ. In addition, the disruption of RIM21 enhanced resistance of yeast cells to cell wall inhibitors. These results provide a basis for elucidating the flocculation mechanism of lager yeast under low-temperature fermentation conditions.

Regulations of RLM1 gene affect the anti-autolytic ability of lager yeast / 生物工程学报

The autolysis of brewer's yeast seriously affects the quality of beer and the quality of yeast is considered as one of the key factors in beer brewing. Previous studies on brewer's yeast autolysis showed that RLM1 gene, an important transcription factor in cell integrity pathway, is closely related to the autolysis of yeast. In this study, RLM1 was knocked out and overexpressed in a haploid brewer's yeast. RLM1 disruption resulted in poor anti-autolysis performance of yeast, whereas overexpression of RLM1 contributed to the anti-autolytic ability of yeast. In addition, RLM1 gene knockout affected the osmotic stress resistance, cell wall damage resistance, nitrogen starvation resistance and temperature tolerance of yeast strain. The transcriptional level of GAS1 involved in cell wall assembly and DNA damage response was regulated along with the expression of RLM1, whereas other genes in CWI pathway did not show apparent regularity. RLM1 might mainly affect the expression of GAS1 so as to improve the stress resistance of lager yeast in harsh environment. The result from this study help further understand the mechanism of yeast autolysis and lay a foundation for breeding brewer's yeast strain with better anti-autolytic ability.

Progress in brewer's yeast cell wall stress response / 生物工程学报

Yeast cell wall plays an important role in the establishment and maintenance of cell morphology upon the cell wall stress. The cell wall of yeast consists of β-glucans, mannoproteins and chitin. The composition and structure remodel due to cell wall stress. Brewer's yeast cell wall exhibits stress response during long-term acclimation in order to adapt to environmental changes. This paper reviews the composition and structure of yeast cell wall and the molecular mechanisms of cell wall remodeling and signal pathway regulation.

Research progresses in microbial 1,3-1,4-β-glucanase: protein engineering and industrial applications / 生物工程学报

1,3-1,4-β-glucanase (E.C.3.2.1.73) is an important industrial enzyme which cleave β-glucans into oligosaccharides through strictly cutting the β-1,4 glycosidic bonds in 3-O-substituted glucopyranose units. Microbial 1,3-1,4-β-glucanase belongs to retaining glycosyl hydrolases of family 16 with a jellyroll β-sandwich fold structure. The present paper reviews the industrial application and protein engineering of microbial β-glucanases in the last decades and forecasts the research prospects of microbial β-glucanases.

Physiological changes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae during serial re-pitching: a review / 生物工程学报

The morphological structure and physiological indexes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae have changed during serial re-pitching due to the stress conditions in serial handlings and the cells become aging. It is of great significance to study the physiological changes of S. cerevisiae during serial re-pitching to understand the anti-aging effect of S. cerevisiae. In this paper, the changes of the physiological indexes during re-pitching of yeast are summarized, and based on the analysis of the previous works further research directions are proposed.