Chandler, Meredith (2004) Defining the ethanol-stress response in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. PhD thesis, Victoria University of Technology.

Abstract

Industrial yeast performance is often compromised during alcoholic fermentations due to bi-product inhibition. Ethanol is arguably the product with the greatest impact on yeast performance, acting as a potent chemical stress on yeast cells. This stress eventually inhibits yeast growth and reduces ceil viability, therefore limiting alcohol concentrations in the final product and increasing fermentation turnover times. The reduced cell growth rate and viability, as well as an increased growth lag period, are characteristic signs of cell stress. This is often accompanied at a molecular level by the induction of stress response genes. While there have been several investigations into the effects of ethanol on yeast, few have focused on the underlying genetic mechanisms that enable yeast cells to tolerate and adapt to this stress. This thesis used differential display and gene array technologies to determine, at a molecular genetics level, how yeast cells adapt to sub-lethal concentrations of ethanol. Such information is of fundamental importance to the development of yeast strains and strategies for the improvement of yeast performance in fermentation.

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