Continuous culture study of transient behaviour of Saccharomyces cerevisiae growing on sucrose and fructose

Aerobic growth physiology of Saccharomyces cerevisiae on sucrose is strain-dependent

Present knowledge on the quantitative aerobic physiology of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae during growth on sucrose as sole carbon and energy source is limited to either adapted cells or to the model laboratory strain CEN.PK113-7D. To broaden our understanding of this matter and open novel opportunities for sucrose-based biotechnological processes, we characterized three strains, with distinct backgrounds, during aerobic batch bioreactor cultivations. Our results reveal that sucrose metabolism in S. cerevisiae is a strain-specific trait. Each strain displayed distinct extracellular hexose concentrations and invertase activity profiles. Especially, the inferior maximum specific growth rate (0.21 h-1) of the CEN.PK113-7D strain, with respect to that of strains UFMG-CM-Y259 (0.37 h-1) and JP1 (0.32 h-1), could be associated to its low invertase activity (0.04-0.09 U/mgDM). Moreover, comparative experiments with glucose or fructose alone, or in combination, suggest mixed mechanisms of sucrose utilization by the industrial strain JP1, and points out the remarkable ability of the wild isolate UFMG-CM-259 to grow faster on sucrose than on glucose in a well-controlled cultivation system. This work hints to a series of metabolic traits that can be exploited to increase sucrose catabolic rates and bioprocess efficiency.

The role of membrane transporters in Leishmania virulence

Leishmania are parasitic protozoa which infect humans and cause severe morbidity and mortality. Leishmania parasitise as extracellular promastigotes in the insect vector and as intracellular amastigotes in the mammalian host. Cycling between hosts involves implementation of stringent and co-ordinated responses to shifting environmental conditions. One of the key dynamic aspects of Leishmania biology is substrate acquisition and metabolism. Genomic analyses have revealed that Leishmania encode many putative membrane transporters, many of which are differentially expressed during the parasite life cycle. Only a small fraction of these transporters, however, have been functionally characterised. Currently, most information is available about nutrient transporters, mainly involved in carbohydrate, amino acid, nucleobase and nucleoside, cofactor, and ion acquisition. Several have apparent roles in Leishmania virulence and will be discussed in this perspective.

Wastewater from the soft drinks industry as a source for bioethanol production

Wastewaters from the soft drinks industry were examined as media for producing bioethanol using yeast-mediated fermentation. Fermentation assays were performed using cola-type, orange and lemon-lime soft drinks and the biomass, sugar and ethanol levels were monitored over time. The effect of the addition of yeast extract was evaluated; the results indicated that 15 g/L is a suitable value for successful fermentation. Depletion of the sugars contained in the soft drinks (10-12% w/v) was achieved in less than 12 h when the medium was inoculated with 2 g/L of Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. Windsor. Ethanol yields were close to the theoretical values. The performance of several kinetic models was evaluated, and their parameters were determined. A model including inhibition by ethanol enabled the best adjustment of the experimental results in all assayed media. Some soft drinks include sodium benzoate in their formulae, the effect of which on yeast metabolism is discussed.

A novel sucrose/H+ symport system and an intracellular sucrase in Leishmania donovani

The flagellated form of pathogenic parasitic protozoa Leishmania, resides in the alimentary tract of its sandfly vector, where sucrose serves as a major nutrient source. In this study we report the presence of a sucrose transport system in Leishmania donovani promastigotes. The kinetics of sucrose uptake in promastigotes are biphasic in nature with both high affinity K(m) (K(m) of ∼ 75 μM) and low affinity K(m) (K(m)∼ 1.38 mM) components. By contrast the virulent amastigotes take up sucrose via a low affinity process with a K(m) of 2.5mM. The transport of sucrose into promastigotes leads to rapid intracellular acidification, as indicated by changes in the fluorescence of the pH indicator 2',7'-bis-(2-carboxyethyl)-5-(6) Carboxyfluorescein (BCECF). In experiments with right side-out plasma membrane vesicles derived from L. donovani promastigotes, an artificial pH gradient was able to drive the active accumulation of sucrose. These data are consistent with the operation of a H(+)-sucrose symporter. The symporter was shown to be independent of Na(+) and to be insensitive to cytochalasin B, to the flavonoid phloretin and to the Na(+)/K(+) ATPase inhibitor ouabain. However, the protonophore carbonylcyanide P- (trifluromethoxy) phenylhydrazone (FCCP) and a number of thiol reagents caused significant inhibition of sucrose uptake. Evidence was also obtained for the presence of a stable intracellular pool of the sucrose splitting enzyme, sucrase, in promastigote stage parasites. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that L. donovani promastigotes take up sucrose via a novel H(+)-sucrose symport system and that, on entering the cell, the sucrose is hydrolysed to its component monosaccharides by an intracellular sucrase, thereby providing an energy source for the parasites.

Kinetics of active sucrose transport in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The kinetic analysis of active sucrose-H+ uptake by Saccharomyces cerevisiae revealed the presence of two transport systems with high and low affinity for sucrose. The MAL2T permease has a low affinity (K(m) = 120 +/-20 mM) for sucrose, while the alpha-glucoside transporter encoded by the AGT1 gene is a high affinity sucrose-H+ symporter (K(m) = 7.9+/-0.8 mM) that increases the specific growth rate of cells growing on sucrose.