The ATFi gene, which encodes alcohol acetyltransferase (AATase), was cloned from Saccharomyces cerevisiae and brewery lager yeast (Saccharomyces uvarum). The nucleotide sequence of the ATFI gene isolated from S. cerevisiae was determined. The structural gene consists of a 1,575-bp open reading frame that encodes 525 amino acids with a calculated molecular weight of 61,059. Although the yeast AATase is considered a membrane-bound enzyme, the results of a hydrophobicity analysis suggested that this gene product does not have a membrane-spanning region that is significantly hydrophobic. A Southern analysis of the yeast genomes in which the ATF] gene was used as a probe revealed that S. cerevisiae has one ATF) gene, while brewery lager yeast has one ATF1 gene and another, homologous gene (Lg-ATFI). Transformants carrying multiple copies of the ATF) gene or the Lg-ATFJ gene exhibited high AATase activity in static cultures and produced greater concentrations of acetate esters than the control.

No abstract

The nucleotide sequences of alcohol acetyltransferase genes isolated from lager brewing yeast, Saccharomyces carlsbergensis have been determined. S. carlsbergensis has one ATF1 gene and another homologous gene, the Lg‐ATF1 gene. There was a high degree of homology between the amino acid sequences deduced for the ATF1 protein and the Lg‐ATF1 protein (75·7%), but the N‐terminal region has a relatively low degree of homology. Southern analysis and contour‐clamped homogeneous electric field analysis of Saccharomyces strains suggest that the ATF1 gene is located on chromosome XV in S. cerevisiae and that the Lg‐ATF1 gene might originate from the ‘non‐S. cerevisiae’ genome of S. carlsbergensis, which is similar to that of S. bayanus and S. pastorianus. The nucleotide sequence data reported in this paper will appear in the DDBJ, EMBL and GenBank data banks with the Accession Numbers D63449 (ATF1) and D63450 (Lg‐ATF1).

No abstract