Improvement of yeast fermentability and stress tolerance through the modification of mRNA flux

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26292039
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Applied microbiology
• Research Institution: Kyoto Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: Shingo Izawa 京都工芸繊維大学, 応用生物学系, 准教授 (10273517)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 杉山 峰崇 大阪大学, 工学(系)研究科(研究院), 准教授 (80379130)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: BTN2 / BDH2 / ADH7 / VFH1 / vanillin / ethanol stress / translation repression / yeast

Outline of Final Research Achievements

It has lately been proven that specific mRNAs are preferentially and selectively translated under stress conditions that repress overall protein synthesis. These facts suggest that, in addition to transcription regulation, gene expression is also precisely regulated at the cytoplasmic translation stage. This study focused on the preferential and selective translation in yeast cells under stress. As the achievements acquired, we succeeded to newly identify mRNAs (BTN2, ADH7, BDH2, and VFH1) that can be preferentially and selectively translated under pronounced translation repression caused by severe ethanol stress and vanillin. We also found that the promoter regions of these genes enable efficient expression of other genes under severe ethanol stress or severe vanillin stress. Our findings strongly suggest that the promoters examined in this study are expected to become useful tools in the modification of gene expression under severe stress conditions and during the brewing process.

Free Research Field

応用微生物学