Genome-wide transcriptional analysis of aerobic and anaerobic chemostat cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Abstract

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is unique among eukaryotes in exhibiting fast growth in both the presence and the complete absence of oxygen. Genome-wide transcriptional adaptation to aerobiosis and anaerobiosis was studied in assays using DNA microarrays. This technique was combined with chemostat cultivation, which allows controlled variation of a single growth parameter under defined conditions and at a fixed specific growth rate. Of the 6,171 open reading frames investigated, 5,738 (93%) yielded detectable transcript levels under either aerobic or anaerobic conditions; 140 genes showed a >3-fold-higher transcription level under anaerobic conditions. Under aerobic conditions, transcript levels of 219 genes were >3-fold higher than under anaerobic conditions.

FIG. 1

Transcript levels of 6,171 yeast ORFs represented on the Affymetrix Ye6100 gene chips in aerobic and anaerobic chemostat cultures (dilution rate = 0.10 h⁻¹; pH 5.0; temperature = 30°C) of S. cerevisiae CEN.PK113-7D. Transcripts that were considered absent by the Affymetrix software are set at a value of 30 to allow calculation of a ratio. The diagonal lines indicate various ratios between aerobic and anaerobic transcript levels.