Stress tolerance: the key to effective strains of industrial baker's yeast

• Published in: Nature biotechnology Vol. 15; no. 13; pp. 1351 - 1357
• Main Author: Attfield, P.V. (Burns Philp Technology and Research Centre, North Ryde, NSW, Australia.)
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Nature 01.12.1997
• Subjects: BAKERS' YEAST; Biological and medical sciences; Biology of microorganisms of confirmed or potential industrial interest; Biomass; BIOTECHNOLOGIE; BIOTECHNOLOGY; BIOTECNOLOGIA; BREWERS' YEAST; Cereal and baking product industries; DISTILLERS' YEAST; DNA Repair; DNA, Recombinant; FERMENTACION; FERMENTATION; FOOD BIOTECHNOLOGY; Food industries; Food Industry; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Heat-Shock Proteins - biosynthesis; Heat-Shock Proteins - genetics; Industrial Microbiology - trends; LEVADURA; LEVADURA DE CERVEZA; LEVADURAS DE PANADERIA; LEVURE; LEVURE DE BIERE; LEVURE DE BOULANGERIE; MICROBIAL PHYSIOLOGY; Mission oriented research; Oxidoreductases - biosynthesis; Oxidoreductases - genetics; Physiology and metabolism; Reactive Oxygen Species; SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE; Saccharomyces cerevisiae - chemistry; Saccharomyces cerevisiae - genetics; Saccharomyces cerevisiae - physiology; Signal Transduction - genetics; Signal Transduction - physiology; Transcription, Genetic - genetics; YEASTS; Food industry; Tolerance; Environmental factor; Baker yeast; Physiology; Baking quality; Review; Gene expression; Metabolism; Stress
• ISSN: 1087-0156; 1546-1696
• DOI: 10.1038/nbt1297-1351

Application of yeasts in traditional biotechnologies such as baking, brewing, distiller's fermentations, and wine making, involves them in exposure to numerous environmental stresses. These can be encountered in concert and sequentially. Yeast exhibit a complex array of stress responses when under conditions that are less than physiologically ideal. These responses involve aspects of cell sensing, signal transduction, transcriptional and posttranslational control, protein-targeting to organelles, accumulation of protectants, and activity of repair functions. The efficiency of these processes in a given yeast strain determines its robustness, and to a large extent, whether it is able to perform to necessary commercial standards in industrial processes. This article reviews aspects of stress and stress response in the context of baker's yeast manufacturing and applications, and discusses the potential for improving the general robustness of industrial baker's yeast strains, in relation to physiological and genetic manipulations.