Modification of the TRX2 gene dose in Saccharomyces cerevisiae affects hexokinase 2 gene regulation during wine yeast biomass production

Abstract

In the industrial yeast biomass production process, cells undergo an oxidative and other stresses which worsen the quality of the produced biomass. The overexpression of the thioredoxin codifying gene TRX2 in a wine Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain increases resistance to oxidative stress and industrial biomass production yield. We observed that variations in the TRX2 gene dose in wine yeast strains are relevant to determine the fermentative capacity throughout the industrial biomass production process. So, we studied the molecular changes using a transcriptomic approach under these conditions. The results provide an overview of the different metabolic pathways affected during industrial biomass production by TRX2 gene manipulation. The oxidative stress-related genes, like those related with the glutathione metabolism, presented outstanding variations. The data also allowed us to propose new thioredoxin targets in S. cerevisiae, such as hexokinase 2, with relevance for industrial fermentation performance.