Induction of isoenzymes of alcohol dehydrogenase in "flor" yeast

Influence of Glutathione on Yeast Fermentation Efficiency under Copper Stress

Copper in grape musts can influence the fermentation efficiency of Saccharomyces cerevisiae during winemaking. The present study revealed the impact of glutathione addition on yeast strains with variable copper sensitivity. The antioxidant glutathione increased yeast vitality and fastened sugar metabolism at copper concentrations up to 0.39 mM. A significant accumulation of acetaldehyde at high copper concentrations was mitigated by the addition of 20 mg L^-1 glutathione. Low recovery of glutathione added implicated a complexation of both compounds. Specific alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activity was inhibited or reduced in the enzyme extracts of the copper-stressed yeast cells. The activity was restored in fermentations with glutathione at a copper concentration of 0.16 mM. At low copper concentrations, glutathione decreased ADH activity presumably due to complexation of essential copper amounts. Results provide important information on the use of glutathione as an antioxidant in winemaking to counteract negative effects of copper-rich musts on copper-sensitive yeast strains.

Gluconic acid consumption in wines by Schizosaccharomyces pombe and its effect on the concentrations of major volatile compounds and polyols

Schizosaccharomyces pombe 1379 (ATCC 26760) yeast strain in wine substantially increases acetaldehyde and 1,1-diethoxyethane concentrations and to decreases levo-2,3-butanediol, glycerol, acetoin, and gluconic acid concentrations. In this study, S. pombe has been used for the first time to reduce gluconic acid in wine under aerobic conditions. Only acetaldehyde and acetoin exhibited significantly higher levels in the wines containing gluconic acid. The high in vitro specific activity of alcohol dehydrogenase observed may be directly related to the high production of acetaldehyde by the studied fission yeast.

Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) in yeasts. II. NAD+-and NADP+-dependent alcohol dehydrogenases in Saccharomycopsis lipolytica

In Sm. lipolytica one NAD+-dependent and three NADP+-dependent alcohol dehydrogenases are detectable by polyacrylamide gelelectrophoresis. The NAD+-dependent ADH (ADH I), with a molecular weight of 240,000 daltons, reacts more intensively with long-chain alcohols (octanol) than with short-chain alcohols (methanol, ethanol). The ADH I is not or only minimally subject to glucose repression. Besides the ADH I band no additional inducible NAD+-dependent ADH band is gel-electrophoretically detectable during growth of yeast cells in medium containing ethanol or paraffin. The ADH I band is very probably formed by two ADH enzymes with the same electrophoretic mobility. The NADP+-dependent alcohol dehydrogenases (ADH II--IV) react with methanol, ethanol and octanol with different intensity. In polyacrylamide gradients two bands of NADP+-dependent ADH are detectable: one with a molecular weight of 70,000 daltons and the other with 120,000 daltons. The occurrence of the three NADP+-dependent alcohol dehydrogenases is regulated by the carbon source of the medium. Sm. lipolytica shows a high tolerance against allylalcohol. Resistant mutants can be isolated only at concentrations of 1 M allylalcohol in the medium. All isolates of allylalcohol-resistant mutants show identical growth in medium containing ethanol as the wild type strain.