Summary
A total of 12 yeast strains from various genera were examined for their ability to produce ethanol in the presence of high concentrations of glucose. From these studies, the yeastsTorulaspora delbrueckii andZygosaccharomyces rouxii were observed to the most osmotolerant. These osmotolerant yeast strains were also observed to possess high concentrations of intracellular trehalose. Futhermore, these strains were found to be tolerant to long-term storage at −20°C and to storage at 4°C in beer containing 5% (v/v) ethanol. Cells containing high trehalose levels at the time of freezing or cold storage exhibited the highest cell viabilities. Trehalose concentration was observed to increase during growth on glucose, reaching a maximum after 24–48 h. Increasing the incubation temperature from 21 to 40°C also resulted in an increase in intracellular trehalose content. These results suggest that trehalose plays a role in enhancing yeast survival under environmentally stressful conditions.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Beuchat, L.R., 1983. Influence of water quality on growth, metabolic activities and survival of yeasts and molds. J. Food Protect. 46: 135–141.
Casey, G.P. and W.M. Ingledew. 1986. Ethanol tolerance in yeast. CRC Crit. Rev. Microbiol. 13: 219–280.
Crowe, J.H., I.M. Crowe and D. Chapman. 1984. Preservation of membranes in anhydrobiotic organisms: The role of trehalose. Science 223: 701–703.
D'Amore, T., C.J. Panchal, I. Russell and G.G. Stewart. 1988. Osmotic pressure effects and intracellular accumulation of ethanol in yeast during fermentation. J. Industr. Microbiol. 2: 365–372.
D'Amore, T., C.J. Panchal, I. Russell and G.G. Stewart. 1989. A study of ethanol tolerance in yeast. CRC Crit. Rev. Biotechnol. 9: 287–304.
Gadd, G.M., K. Chalmers and R.H. Reed. 1987. The role of trehalose in dehydration resistance ofSaccharomyces cerevisiae. FEMS Microbiol. Rev. 48: 249–254.
Hahn-Hagerdal, B., M. Larsson and B. Mattison. 1982. Shift in metabolism towards ethanol production inSaccharomyces cerevisiae using alterations of the physical-chemical microenvironment. Biotechnol. Bioeng. Symp. 12: 199–202.
Hottiger, T., T. Boller and A. Wiemken. 1987. Rapid changes of heat and desiccation tolerance correlated with changes of trehalose content inSaccharomyces cerevisiae cells subjected to temperature shifts. FEBS Lett. 220: 113–115.
Hottiger, T., T. Boller and A. Wiemken. 1989. Correlation of trehalose content and heat resistance in yeast mutants altered in the RAS/adenylate cyclase pathway: Is trehalose a thermoprotectant? FEBS Lett. 255: 431–434.
Jones, R.P., N. Pamment and P.F. Greenfield. 1981. Alcohol fermentation by yeasts: The effect of environmental and other variables. Process Biochem. 16: 42–49.
Keller, F., M. Schellenberg and A. Wiemken. 1982. Localization of trehalase in vacuoles and of trehalose in the cytosol of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). Arch. Microbiol. 131: 298–301.
Lillie, S.H. and J.R. Pringle. 1980. Reserve carbohydrate metabolism inSaccharomyces cerevisiae: Responses to nutrient limitation. J. Bacteriol. 143: 1384–1394.
Novak, S., T. D'Amore, I. Russell and G.G. Stewart. 1990. Sugar uptake in a 2-deoxy-d-glucose resistant mutant ofSaccharomyces cerevisiae. J. Ind. Microbiol. 7: 35–40.
Oda, Y., K. Uno and S. Ohta. 1986. Selection of yeasts for breadmaking by the frozen-dough method. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 52: 941–943.
Ohshima, Y., T. Sugaura, M. Horita and T. Sasaki. 1987. Industrial application of artificially induced diploid strains ofTorulaspora delbrueckii. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 53: 1512–1514.
Oliveira, D.E., M. Arrese, G. Kidane, A.D. Panek and J.R. Mattoon. 1986. Trehalose and maltose metabolism in yeast transformed inMAL4 regulatory gene cloned from a constitutive donor strain. Curr. Genet. 11: 97–106.
Sall, C.J., J.F. Seipp and A.T. Pringle. 1988. Changes in brewer's yeast during storage and the effect of these changes on subsequent fermentation performance. J. Am. Soc. Brew. Chem. 46: 23–25.
Sasaki, T. and Y. Ohshima. 1987. Induction and characterization of artificial diploids from the haploid yeastTorulaspora delbrueckii. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 53: 1504–1511.
Stewart, G.G., T. D'Amore, C.J. Panchal and I. Russell. 1988. Factors that influence the ethanol tolerance of brewer's yeast strains during high gravity wort fermentations. MBAA Tech. Quart. 252: 47–53.
Thevelein, J.M. 1984. Regulation of trehalose mobilization in fungi. Microbiol. Rev. 48: 42–59.
Trevelyan, W.E. and J.S. Harrison. 1956. Studies on yeast metabolism. 5. The trehalose content of baker's yeast during anaerobic fermentation. Biochem. J. 62: 177–182.
Van Laere, A. 1989. Trehalose, reserve and/or stress metabolite? FEMS Microbiol. Rev. 63: 201–210.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
D'Amore, T., Crumplen, R. & Stewart, G.G. The involvement of trehalose in yeast stress tolerance. Journal of Industrial Microbiology 7, 191–195 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01575882
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01575882