Publicaties
Polygenic Analysis of Tolerance to Carbon Dioxide Inhibition of Isoamyl Acetate "Banana" Flavor Production in Yeast Reveals MDS3 as Major Causative Gene KU Leuven Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie
The introduction in modern breweries of tall cylindroconical fermentors, replacing the traditional open fermentation vats, unexpectedly revealed strong inhibition of flavor production by the high CO2 pressure in the fermentors. We have screened our collection of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains for strains displaying elevated tolerance to inhibition of flavor production by +0.65 bar CO2, using a laboratory scale CO2 pressurized fermentation ...
Towards valorization of pectin-rich agro-industrial residues: Engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for co-fermentation of D-galacturonic acid and glycerol KU Leuven
Pectin-rich plant biomass residues represent underutilized feedstocks for industrial biotechnology. The conversion of the oxidized monomer d-galacturonic acid (d-GalUA) to highly reduced fermentation products such as alcohols is impossible due to the lack of electrons. The reduced compound glycerol has therefore been considered an optimal co-substrate, and a cell factory able to efficiently co-ferment these two carbon sources is in demand. Here, ...
Whole-Genome Transformation Promotes tRNA Anticodon Suppressor Mutations under Stress KU Leuven
tRNAs are encoded by a large gene family, usually with several isogenic tRNAs interacting with the same codon. Mutations in the anticodon region of other tRNAs can overcome specific tRNA deficiencies. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that such mutations have occurred in evolution, but the driving force is unclear. We show that in yeast suppressor mutations in other tRNAs are able to overcome deficiency of the essential TRT2-encoded tRNAThrCGU at ...
Nutrient transceptors physically interact with the yeast S6/protein kinase B homolog, Sch9, a TOR kinase target KU Leuven
Multiple starvation-induced, high-affinity nutrient transporters in yeast function as receptors for activation of the protein kinase A (PKA) pathway upon re-addition of their substrate. We now show that these transceptors may play more extended roles in nutrient regulation. The Gap1 amino acid, Mep2 ammonium, Pho84 phosphate and Sul1 sulfate transceptors physically interact in vitro and in vivo with the PKA-related Sch9 protein kinase, the yeast ...
Aberrant Intracellular pH Regulation Limiting Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Activity in the Glucose-Sensitive Yeast tps1 Delta Mutant KU Leuven
Whereas the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae shows great preference for glucose as a carbon source, a deletion mutant in trehalose-6-phosphate synthase, tps1Δ, is highly sensitive to even a few millimolar glucose, which triggers apoptosis and cell death. Glucose addition to tps1Δ cells causes deregulation of glycolysis with hyperaccumulation of metabolites upstream and depletion downstream of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH). The ...