Temperature-induced lipocalin (TIL): a shield against stress-inducing environmental shocks in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Abstract

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a well-established workhorse, either for recombinant or natural products, thanks to its natural traits and easily editable metabolism. However, during a bio-based industrial process it meets multiple stresses generated by operative conditions such as non-optimal temperature, pH, oxygenation and product accumulation. The development of tolerant strains is therefore indispensable for the improvement of production, yield and productivity of fermentative processes. In this regard, plants as resilient organisms are a generous source for fishing genes and/or metabolites that can help the cell factory to counteract environmental constraints. Plants possess proteins named temperature-induced lipocalins, TIL, whose levels in the cells correlates with the tolerance to sudden temperature changes and with the scavenging of reactive oxygen species. In this work, the gene encoding for the Arabidopsis thaliana TIL protein was for the first time expressed in S. cerevisiae. The recombinant strain was compared and analysed against the parental counterpart under heat shock, freezing, exposure to organic acid and oxidative agents. In all the tested conditions, TIL expression conferred a higher tolerance to the stress imposed, making this strain a promising candidate for the development of robust cell factories able to overtake the major impairments of industrial processes.

Mutation of genes for cell membrane synthesis in Corynebacterium glutamicum causes temperature-sensitive trait and promotes L-glutamate excretion

“…The mutations of teichoic acid membrane export protein-coding gene (cgl0351) and glyceride metabolism gene (ugpABC and cgl2090) has a negative effect on the integrity of the cell wall structure. In addition, the mutation of glycosyltransferase coding gene (cgl0354 and cgl0363), lipoprotein signal peptidase coding gene (cgl2139) and lipocalin family protein-protein-coding gene (cgl0628) might also be one of the reasons for the improvementof the robustness of C. glutamicum to various stresses [22][23][24].…”

Strategies to Improve Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Technological Advancements and Evolutionary Engineering

“…Recently, AtTIL gene encoding temperature-induced lipocalins, TIL protein from Arabidopsis thaliana was expressed in S. cerevisiae using genetic engineering approach. The recombinant strain conferred a high tolerance to the [38]. Similarly in another research, the recombinant strain of S. cerevisiae has been created by over expression of MAL62 gene.…”