Pentose utilization Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Genetically Modified Organisms. Traditionally, Saccharomyces cerevisiae is used in industrial ethanol fermentation however, S. cerevisiae is not able to utilize pentoses, which present a significant fraction of the sugars present in lignocellulosic material. 

Gosh A, Zhao H, Price N. (2011). Genome-scale consequences of cofactor balancing in engineered pentose utilization pathways in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. PLOS One, 6, e27316. 

Hahn-Hagerdal B, Karhumaa K, Jeppsson M, Gorwa-Grauslund MF. (2007). Metabohc engineering for pentose utilization in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Adv Biochem Eng Biotechnol, 108, 147-177. 

Zhou, H., Cheng, J.-s., Wang, B.L, Fink, G.R. et al. (2012) Xylose isomerase overexpression along with engineering of the pentose phosphate pathway and evolutionary engineering enable rapid xylose utilization and ethanol production by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Metab. Eng., 14, 611-622. 

Bettiga M, Bengtsson O, Hahn-Hagerdal B, Gorwa-Grausiund MF (2009) Arabinose and xylose fermentation by recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae expressing a fungal pentose utilization pathway. Microb Cell Fact 8(1) 40... 

As described by Vaughan-Martini and Martini (1998a), Saccharomyces appear microscopically as globose or ovoidal cells with multilateral budding and possibly pseudohyphae (Fig. 1.4). The yeast forms one to four ascospores, which are smooth and ellipsoidal. Colonies appear smooth, usually flat, and occasionally raised and opaque. The two primary species found in wines, S. bay anus and S. cerevisiae (anamorph Candida robusta), ferment glucose, sucrose, and raffinose and assimilate glucose, sucrose, maltose, raffinose, and ethanol but not nitrate. Saccharomyces can not utilize five-carbon sugars (e.g., pentoses). 

---