Research Article
1 February 1999

Genetic Evidence That High Noninduced Maltase and Maltose Permease Activities, Governed by MALx3-Encoded Transcriptional Regulators, Determine Efficiency of Gas Production by Baker’s Yeast in Unsugared Dough

ABSTRACT

Strain selection and improvement in the baker’s yeast industry have aimed to increase the speed of maltose fermentation in order to increase the leavening activity of industrial baking yeast. We identified two groups of baker’s strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae that can be distinguished by the mode of regulation of maltose utilization. One group (nonlagging strains), characterized by rapid maltose fermentation, had at least 12-fold more maltase and 130-fold-higher maltose permease activities than maltose-lagging strains in the absence of inducing sugar (maltose) and repressing sugar (glucose). Increasing the noninduced maltase activity of a lagging strain 13-fold led to an increase in CO2 production in unsugared dough. This increase in CO2 production also was seen when the maltose permease activity was increased 55-fold. Only when maltase and maltose permease activities were increased in concert was CO2 production by a lagging strain similar to that of a nonlagging strain. The noninduced activities of maltase and maltose permease constitute the largest determinant of whether a strain displays a nonlagging or a lagging phenotype and are dependent upon theMALx3 allele. Previous strategies for strain improvement have targeted glucose derepression of maltase and maltose permease expression. Our results suggest that increasing noninduced maltase and maltose permease levels is an important target for improved maltose metabolism in unsugared dough.
Yeast cells need any one of five unlinked maltose (MAL) loci (MAL1 throughMAL4 and MAL6) (8, 27) in order to utilize maltose. Each locus consists of a MALx1(MALxT) (where x is the locus) gene, encoding maltose permease (9), a MALx2 (MALxS) gene, coding for α-glucosidase (maltase) (10), and aMALx3 (MALxR) gene, encoding a positive regulatory protein (28). The MALx1 andMALx2 genes are divergently transcribed from a bidirectional promoter (MAL intergenic region), and the MALx3regulatory protein interacts with upstream activating sequences in theMAL intergenic region, inducing transcription in the presence of maltose (21). Expression from nativeMAL loci is maltose induced (inducing conditions), is glucose repressed (repressing conditions), and has a low basal level of expression in the presence of galactose or ethanol (noninducing conditions) (28).
Industrial yeasts are usually polyploid strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae or closely related species (13). The ability to utilize maltose, and therefore the regulation of the MALsystem, is a key factor in many commercial applications, such as baking, brewing, and distilling (4, 6, 31). In a dough consisting of flour, water, yeast, and salt (unsugared or plain dough), the most abundant available sugar is maltose, produced by the action of amylases on damaged starch (4, 33). Some industrial strains are inoculated into unsugared (plain) dough with low MAL activity (maltase and maltose permease enzymes) and have an undesirable decrease in the 2nd-h gassing rate (30). These strains are termed lagging strains. Others, known as nonlagging strains, maintain a high gassing rate in the 2nd h of leavening. Often, lagging strains have other phenotypes that are desirable, such as good gassing ability in high-sugar dough or stability upon storage. Sexual crosses of nonlagging and lagging strains may not yield progeny with all of the desirable traits.
Before recombinant DNA techniques can be used to alter the lagging phenotype of industrial yeast, detailed genetic and biochemical analyses of industrial strains are needed. The MAL loci, maltose utilization phenotypes, and expression of maltase and maltose permease proteins in laboratory strains of yeast (7, 11, 26, 41) have been characterized extensively; however, little is known about the genetic basis of the nonlagging phenotype in industrial strains. Much remains to be learned about the genetic makeup of industrial strains in order to take full advantage of recombinant DNA techniques for strain improvement (1, 36).
Our working hypothesis is that CO2 production in unsugared dough correlates with MAL activity in industrial strains used for commercial applications. Our objectives were (i) to determine if there are any major differences in regulation of the MAL system between lagging and nonlagging strains and (ii) to identify differences in genetic background that are involved in the nonlagging phenotype of industrial strains.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Strains and plasmids.

Industrial baker’s strains NL67, NL25, NL89, L38, L83, and L05 were obtained from Burns Philp & Co. Ltd., North Ryde, Sydney, Australia. Strain RMS-14A (MATa trp1 his4 mal0suc0) (37), which lacks a functionalMALx3 gene, was transformed with a construct that hasMALx2 and MALx1 structural genes replaced by the marker genes MEL1 and lacZ, respectively, producing strain PB1 (2). Escherichia coli XL1 Blue recA1 endA1 gyrA96 thi-1 hsdR17 supE44 relA1 lac [F′proAB lacIq ZΔM15 Tn10(Tetr)] from Stratagene (La Jolla, Calif.) was used for cloning and plasmid propagation. The shuttle vector pBEJ17 (16), with G418 resistance as a dominant marker, was used to introduce MALx3 genes into the baker’s yeast strains. YRp7 (39) was used for the tryptophan auxotrophic strain PB1.

Media and culture conditions.

Bacteria were grown on Luria-Bertani medium (1% peptone, 0.5% yeast extract, 1% NaCl) in the presence of ampicillin (50 μg ml−1) for selection. PB1 Trp+ transformants were grown on minimal medium (0.67% yeast nitrogen base without amino acids, supplemented with all auxotrophic requirements except tryptophan) to maintain YRp7 plasmids. For Northern analysis and enzyme assays, industrial baker’s yeast strains were grown on YP-based medium (0.5% yeast extract, 1% peptone, 0.3% KH2PO4) with or without 220 μg of Geneticin (G418 sulfate; Gibco BRL) ml−1. Fermentable sugars and ethanol were added to a concentration of 2% (wt/vol). Cultures were incubated at 30°C on a platform shaker (200 rpm) and harvested at an optical density at 640 nm of 0.3 to 0.35. Yeast cells tested for gas production were grown in a 100-ml seed culture of YP-based medium which contained 1% sucrose with or without 220 μg of G418 sulfate ml−1. This seed culture was used to inoculate 1 liter of the same media in baffled 2-liter Erlenmeyer flasks. Both cultures were incubated at 30°C on a platform shaker (200 rpm) until late-respiratory phase, when the ethanol level in the medium was between 0.10 and 0.02% (wt/vol). Cultured cells were harvested, washed twice with 0.35 M NaCl, and collected on Whatman paper (no. 3 chromatography) for 30 min. Previously described methods were used to measure gas production in bread dough (25) or alcohol production in synthetic liquid dough (24). Bread dough activities given in the tables are averages of three cultures, each tested in duplicate. Standard errors were less than 10%.

Preparation of MALx3 genes for transformation.

We isolated MALx3 genes by colony hybridization from a YRp7-based minilibrary created fromBglII-SalI-digested NL67 chromosomal DNA (2). We subcloned MALx3 genes into other vectors after changing the unique PmlI site of YRp7 to aBamHI site. The BamHI-SalI fragments encoding the positive activator genes were inserted into theBamHI-SalI sites of pBEJ17. Yeast transformants were performed by using a Bio 101 (Vista, Calif.) kit according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Northern hybridization.

RNA for Northern hybridization was isolated from yeast cells by using TRIZOL reagent (Life Technologies, Inc., Gaithersburg, Md.) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Thirty micrograms of total RNA was resolved on a 1% agarose gel in 1× morpholinepropanesulfonic acid (MOPS) buffer (20 mM MOPS [sodium salt], 5 mM sodium acetate, 1 mM disodium EDTA [pH 7]) containing 6% (wt/vol) formaldehyde. Nonradioactive digoxigenin hybridization was performed according to the manufacturer’s instructions (Boehringer Mannheim Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia). The 1-kbHindII fragment containing part of the maltose permease gene (MAL6-1), the 1.5-kb BglII fragment containing part of the maltase gene (MAL6-2), the 0.9-kbEcoRI fragment of the transcriptional-activator gene (MAL6-3), and the 2-kbEcoRI-HindIII fragment containing the yeast actin gene (ACT1) were used as hybridization probes.

Production of cell extracts and determination of protein concentration.

Harvested cells were resuspended in breakage buffer (0.1 M citrate buffer [pH 6.5], 0.1 M EDTA, 1 mM dithiothreitol, 0.17 mg of phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride/ml, 0.7 μM pepstatin) and homogenized for 5 min in the presence of glass beads. The extracts were centrifuged at 4°C for 10 min at 11,000 × g, and the supernatant was used as a cell extract. The protein concentration was determined by the method of Bradford (5).

Enzyme assays.

For the determination of maltase activity, cell extract and 50 mM potassium phosphate buffer (pH 6.8) were added to a total volume of 200 μl, followed by the addition of 1 ml of p -nitrophenyl-glucopyranoside (1 mg ml−1). The specific activity of maltase was defined as nanomoles of p -nitrophenol released per minute per milligram of protein at 28°C and pH 6.8. The β-galactosidase activity of cell extracts was assayed as described by Miller (23). Specific activity was determined as nanomoles of o -nitrophenol released per minute per milligram of protein at 28°C and pH 7. For α-galactosidase activity determination, cell extracts were added to a total volume of 400 μl with assay buffer (39 mM potassium phosphate, 31 mM citric acid [pH 4]), followed by the addition of 100 μl of p -nitrophenol-galactopyranoside (15 mg ml−1). Specific activity was defined as nanomoles of p -nitrophenol released per minute per milligram of protein at 28°C and pH 4. Enzyme activities given are averages of three cultures tested in triplicate. Standard errors for maltase, β-galactosidase, and α-galactosidase activities were less than 10%.

Transport assays.

Maltose transport activity was assayed according to the method of Serrano (38). Yeast cells were suspended in 0.2 M potassium phosphate buffer (pH 6) at a concentration of 90 mg ml−1. The reaction was carried out at 30°C and started by the addition of 30 μl of 10 μCi of α-d-[U-14C]maltose (ICN Biochemicals Australasia Pty. Ltd., Sydney, New South Wales, Australia). Samples were taken at 30-s intervals and stopped by dilution in 4 ml of ice-cold water plus 3.7 mg of iodoacetamide ml−1. The cells were filtered onto Whatman GF/C glass microfiber filters and washed twice with 4 ml of ice-cold water plus 3.7 mg of iodoacetamide ml−1. The radioactivity of filters was determined by liquid scintillation counting using aqueous scintillant; boiled cells were used as a control. Transport activities were defined as picomoles of maltose transported per minute per milligram (dry weight) of yeast cells. Activities given are averages of three cultures tested in triplicate. Standard errors for transport activities were less than 15%.

RESULTS

Positive correlation between yeast maltase and maltose permease activities and 2nd-h CO2 production in unsugared dough.

The abilities of six industrial strains of S. cerevisiae to produce CO2 gas in the 2nd h of a rapid unsugared dough fermentation were strongly correlated to maltase (r = 0.995) and maltose permease (r = 0.963) activities at the time of inoculation in the dough (Table1). Strains NL67, NL25, and NL89 displayed the gassing characteristics of nonlagging strains (an equal or greater volume of gas was produced in the 2nd h than in the 1st h). By contrast, the volumes of gas produced by L38, L83, and L05 decreased by 60% in the 2nd h, indicating that these are lagging strains. The maltase and maltose permease activities of the three nonlagging strains were at least 7- and 120-fold higher, respectively, than those of the lagging strains (Table 1). These high MAL activities correlated with the 2nd-h gas volumes of the nonlagging strains, which were at least three times higher than those of the lagging strains (Table 1). When inoculated into synthetic dough medium consisting of glucose as the sole carbon source, all strains showed similar levels of gas production over 2 h (data not shown). These findings suggest that differences in maltose utilization affect 2nd-h gassing of lagging and nonlagging baker’s yeast.
Table 1.
Table 1. Fermentation activity in relation to maltase and maltose permease activities in industrial strains of baker’s yeasta
StrainGassingbin:Maltase activitycPermease activityd
1st h2nd h
NL672703203601,700
NL252602402101,500
NL892702602702,000
L38190762812
L83200802912
L05180722311
a
Values shown are means of data derived from three experiments. Fermentation activity determinations were carried out in duplicate with standard errors of less than 10%. Assays were carried out in triplicate with standard errors of less than 10% for maltase results and less than 15% for maltose permease results.
b
Milliliters of CO2 produced per gram (dry weight) of yeast.
c
In nanomoles of p -nitrophenol released per minute per milligram of protein.
d
In picomoles of [14C]maltose taken up per minute per milligram (dry weight) of yeast cells.

Nonlagging strains have higher MAL activity under noninduced and induced conditions, but this is highly repressed by glucose.

We tested two strains, NL67 (nonlagging) and L38 (lagging), for their maltase and maltose permease activities in mid-log phase in the presence of maltose (inducing), galactose (noninducing), ethanol (noninducing), and glucose (repressing). The major difference between the two strains was seen under noninducing conditions, in which the nonlagging strain produced much higher levels of both activities than the lagging strain (Table 2). Under inducing conditions (maltose), the difference was less marked. Northern analyses of MAL mRNA species indicated that these differences were due to increased transcriptional activity of theMALx2 and MALx1 genes (Fig.1).
Table 2.
Table 2. Maltase and maltose permease activities of baker’s yeast strains L38 and NL67 and their transformantsa
StrainMaltase activitybPermease activityc
MalGalEthGluMalGalEthGlu
L382,000601402.12,10032210.3
NL673,0001,0001,700145,1001,1002,8002.2
L38 + BEJ171,800401301.42,00026230.5
L38 + MALx3–VH11,80049731.22,00020190.3
L38 + MALx3–VH71,900540630322,1003706101.3
L38 + MALx3–VH501,8008601,200802,0006809201.6
L38 + MALx3–VH232,900601301.33,80020200.2
NL67 + BEJ173,1009801,6006.05,2001,1002,8001.9
NL67 + MALx3–VH13,2006001,2005.05,2006402,0001.9
NL67 + MALx3–VH73,0001,5001,900575,2002,2003,1003.8
a
Strains and transformants were grown to mid-log phase in maltose (Mal), galactose (Gal), ethanol (Eth), or glucose (Glu). Values shown are means of data derived from three experiments. Assays were carried out in triplicate with standard errors of less than 10% for maltase results and less than 15% for maltose permease results.
b
In nanomoles of p -nitrophenol released per minute per milligram of protein.
c
In picomoles of [14C]maltose taken up per minute per milligram (dry weight) of yeast cells.
Fig. 1.
Fig. 1. Northern (RNA) analysis of MALx2,MALx1, and MALx3 mRNA levels in baker’s yeast strains L38 and NL67 and their transformants. Cells were growing exponentially under inducing (maltose), noninducing (galactose or ethanol), and repressing (glucose) conditions. Total RNA was loaded in each lane, and the filters were hybridized with labelled probes (MAL6-2, MAL6-1, MAL6-3, andACT1). All carbon sources were used at a concentration of 2% (wt/wt). Lanes: 1, L38; 2, L38 + BEJ17; 3, L38 + MALx3–VH1; 4, L38 + MALx3–VH7; 5, NL67; 6, NL67 + BEJ17; 7, NL67 + MALx3–VH1; 8, NL67 + MALx3–VH7.
In the presence of glucose, the maltase and maltose permease activities of both strains were reduced to very low levels (Table 2). It appears, therefore, that neither the glucose repression characteristics of maltase and maltose permease activities nor the level of glucose present in unsugared dough prior to fermentation is important in determining the nonlagging phenotype.

Cloned MALx3 gene from a nonlagging strain results in high noninduced expression of MALx1 and MALx2genes in a MALx3-negative background.

MALx2 andMALx1 gene expression is regulated at transcription by the MALx3 protein (12, 28). We cloned a series ofMALx3 genes from the nonlagging NL67 strain. Three polymorphic MALx3 genes, two with novel restriction maps (MALx3–VH7 and MALx3–VH9) and one (MALx3–VH1) corresponding to the publishedMAL6-3 (MAL6R) gene (18) were isolated. These genes could complement the malx3-negative phenotype of laboratory strain PB1. The MALx3–VH1 andMALx3–VH9 genes were subject to strong maltose induction, with MEL1 expression (MALx2) increased between 90- and 300-fold and lacZ expression (MALx1) increased as much as 440-fold under induced conditions compared with noninduced conditions (Table 3). The PB1 + MALx3–VH7 strain, however, had much higher levels ofMALx2 and MALx1 expression under noninduced conditions but could be induced by maltose to the same final levels as the other transformants (Table 3). Induction levels from theMALx3–VH7 gene were only 5- to 13-fold. TheMALx3–VH7 gene, therefore, conferred on a malx3strain a regulation of MALx1 and MALx2 that was qualitatively similar to that seen in nonlagging strains.
Table 3.
Table 3. Melibiase (MEL1) and β-galactosidase (LacZ) activities of PB1 transformants grown in maltose, galactose, or glucosea
StrainMEL1 activityb(MALx2)LacZ activityc(MALx1)
MalGalGluMalGalGlu
PB1 + YRp72.00.8ND7.00.1ND
PB1 + MALx3–VH13501.1ND880.2ND
PB1 + MALx3–VH7340267.486170.9
PB1 + MALx3–VH93604.0ND931.0ND
PB1 + MALx3–VH235101.4ND1400.2ND
PB1 + MALx3–VH50330612281354.4
a
Values shown are means of data derived from three experiments. Assays were carried out in triplicate. Standard errors were less than 10%.
b
In nanomoles of p -nitrophenyl released per minute per milligram of protein. Mal, maltose; Gal, galactose; Glu, glucose; ND, not detected.
c
In nanomoles of o -nitrophenyl released per minute per milligram of protein.
The MALx3–VH7 gene was mutated to produceMALx3–VH50 (Lys364Glu, Lys371Gly, Phe375Leu), which showed higher noninduced levels in PB1 (Table 3). We also fused the promoter and the 1st 954 bp of the MALx3–VH7 structural gene with the carboxyl terminus of the MALx3–VH1 gene. This construct (MALx3–VH23) regulated the marker genes in strain PB1 with strong maltose induction, but the fully induced activities of melibiase and β-galactosidase were approximately 45 and 60% higher than those seen with all other MALx3 genes (Table 3). These results suggest that NL67 contains a novel MALx3 gene that leads to significantly higher MAL activity under noninduced conditions and that this gene may be responsible for the nonlagging phenotype.

The MALx3–VH7 gene product significantly increases the noninduced MAL activity of a lagging strain.

We subclonedMALx3–VH7, MALx3–VH50, MALx3–VH23, and MALx3–VH1 into pBEJ17, a 2 μm DNA-based high-copy-number plasmid, to provide enough copies of clonedMALx3 genes to override interference that might arise from the original MALx3 genes in strain L38. The genes that previously gave high noninduced levels of expression (MALx3–VH7 and MALx3–VH50) in PB1 also led to very high noninduced levels in the lagging strain (L38). This was not the case for MALx3–VH1-, MALx3–VH23-, and vector only-transformed L38 (Table 2). These results (forMALx3–VH7) could be attributed to increased transcription of MALx1 and MALx2, (Fig. 1). It is unlikely that this increased transcription is due to the presence of multiple copies of the MALx3 genes, since both MALx3–VH7 andMALx3–VH1 constructs are present at similar copy numbers (see, e.g., the MALx3 transcript levels in Fig. 1), and in the presence of multiple copies of MALx3–VH1, theMALx1 and MALx2 genes retained strong inducibility. The differences observed may be due to differences in the structure or regulation of the transcription factors they encode. This is consistent with the effect of mutations in theMALx3–VH50 gene, which increase noninduced maltase and maltose permease levels beyond those seen in strains with theMALx3–VH7 gene.
In the presence of glucose, the activities of maltase and maltose permease in all strains were very low. However, in strains carrying theMALx3–VH7 and MALx3–VH50 genes, there was at least a 10-fold increase in the expression of the MALx2 gene (Table 2).

Higher noninduced levels of maltase and maltose permease increase the ability of a yeast strain to produce CO2 in unsugared dough.

We tested the effect that cloned MALx3 genes have on fermentation ability in unsugared dough by growing transformed strains in YP with 1% sucrose plus 220 μg of Geneticin/ml. Strains were harvested in late-respiratory phase, maltase and maltose permease activities were assayed, and amounts of gas produced in unsugared dough were measured. The maltase and maltose permease activities of L38 + MALx3–VH7 were approximately 9- and 23-fold higher than those of the control strain, L38 + BEJ17, and resulted in a 2.4-fold increase in 2nd-h gassing (Table 4). Similar effects, but with higher enzyme activities and higher levels of gassing, were seen with L38 + MALx3–VH50.
Table 4.
Table 4. Fermentation activity in relation to maltase and maltose permease activities in recombinant strains of baker’s yeasta
StrainGassingbin:Maltase activitycPermease activityd
1st h2nd h
L38 + BEJ17180523012
L38 + MALx3–VH1180512510
L38 + MALx3–VH7200130270280
L38 + MALx3–VH23180691910
NL67 + BEJ172202103801,600
NL67 + MALx3–VH12102102701,300
NL67 + MALx3–VH72202204001,700
L38 + PDC1200120311,800
L38 + PDC1–VH72101802701,900
L38 + MALx3–VH50220170390530
a
Values shown are means of data received from three experiments. Fermentation activity determinations were carried out in duplicate with standard errors of less than 10%. Assays were carried out in triplicate with standard errors of less than 10% for maltase results and less than 15% for maltose permease results.
b
Milliliters of CO2 produced per gram (dry weight) of yeast.
c
In nanomoles of p -nitrophenol released per minute per milligram of protein.
d
In picomoles of [14C]maltose taken up per minute per milligram (dry weight) of yeast cells.
Strain L38 + PDC1 was developed by integrating a MAL6-1structural gene fused to the PDC1 promoter at theTRP1 locus of strain L38. This strain showed a maltose permease activity 150-fold higher than that of the control strain but showed no increase in maltase activity. The higher maltose permease activity resulted in a 2.4-fold increase in 2nd-h gas production in unsugared dough (Table 4).
Even though both L38 + MALx3–VH7 and L38 + PDC1 had higher 2nd-h gas production, these levels were still lower than those of the nonlagging strain NL67 (Table 4). Transforming L38 + PDC1 with the BEJ17 + MALx3–VH7 plasmid (L38 + PDC1 + VH7) increased the maltase activity ninefold (Table 4). This combination of maltase and maltose permease increases led to a 3.5-fold increase in 2nd-h gas production, which approaches the activity of the transformed nonlagging control (Table 4). Thus, all strains with significant increases in noninduced maltase and maltose permease activities had corresponding increases in 2nd-h gas production. L38 + MALx3–VH23 had higher maltase and maltose permease activities in the presence of maltose (Table 2), but no significant increase in 2nd-h gas production was evident in unsugared dough (Table 4).
We added 150 μg of cycloheximide ml−1 to unsugared synthetic dough before the addition of yeast. When cycloheximide was added at the start of the fermentation, the nonlagging strain, NL67, was still producing gas 250 min into the fermentation, whereas the lagging strain (L38) was unable to produce gas beyond 110 min (Fig.2). This result suggests that the nonlagging strain entered the synthetic dough with sufficient levels of maltase and maltose permease proteins to utilize maltose without the need for further protein synthesis.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2. Fermentation by nonlagging and lagging strains ofS. cerevisiae in unsugared synthetic dough medium. Yeast cells were inoculated into unsugared synthetic dough containing 1% sucrose and 5% maltose. Samples were withdrawn at intervals and centrifuged, and supernatants were assayed for ethanol by gas chromatography. Values shown are means of data derived from two experiments. Assays were carried out in triplicate with standard errors of less than 10%. (A) Cycloheximide was added at 0 min; (B) no cycloheximide was added. □, L38; ○, L67.

DISCUSSION

We found a strong correlation between a yeast strain’s maltase and maltose permease activities and its ability to leaven unsugared dough. These results support the conclusions of Oda and Ouchi (30) that constitutive expression of maltose-utilization genes is crucial to prolonged leavening of unsugared dough. Here we have shown that the nonlagging phenotype is due to the presence in strains of a MALx3 gene activator that allows constitutive expression of the other MAL genes.
There have been several earlier reports that the nonlagging phenotype is dependent on a high level of maltase expression in the presence of glucose (32, 35), which is a feature of the constitutive expression in the system used by Oda and Ouchi (3, 17, 29, 30). We showed that glucose repression characteristics are not important in the nonlagging industrial strain but that aMALx3 gene capable of conferring high constitutive basal levels of expression of the MAL system under noninduced conditions (i.e., on substrates containing neither glucose nor maltose) is the most relevant feature. The MALx3 regulators we identified could still respond to maltose and lead to further increases in MAL gene expression. This ability to undergo maltose induction above the high basal level may also be required in a good baking strain but is not important to the nonlagging phenotype.
These characteristics are consistent with what is required of a strain used commercially in terms of yield and activity. In industrial practice, cane or beet molasses is used for fed-batch growth of yeast. To obtain a high yeast biomass yield, molasses is added incrementally, and biomass increases under conditions supporting respiration. During growth on sucrose or glucose as substrates in high levels of expression of the MAL genes are undesirable because they lead to a selective disadvantage (20). While glucose repression may be partially relieved due to the batch-fed mode of growth, there may be sufficient repression to prevent high levels of expression of theMAL genes. To finish the fermentation, the molasses feed is cut and the yeast is aerated in order to respire the remaining ethanol before the yeast is harvested and packaged (36). These conditions, with neither maltose nor glucose present, are very similar to the noninduced conditions used in our experiments. We suggest that, like the lagging strain, the nonlagging strain, when placed into unsugared dough, can readily ferment the available sugars (glucose, fructose, and sucrose) and produce CO2 (34). However, due to the MALx3 background of the nonlagging strain, it enters the unsugared dough with significant activities of maltase and maltose permease, thus allowing it to utilize maltose simultaneously. At this stage the concentrations of glucose or fructose present in unsugared dough are not high enough to completely repress expression of the maltase and maltose permease genes or to catabolite inactivate the maltose permease of the nonlagging strain. In support of this, inhibition of protein synthesis at the start of fermentation in unsugared synthetic dough did not prevent a nonlagging strain from fermenting maltose, but it did inhibit the lagging strain.
For a yeast to be useful in leavening unsugared dough, it must contain a MALx3 genetic background that provides for high levels of maltase and maltose permease activities when the yeast enters the dough. These levels enable the strain to continue to produce CO2 at the same rate even after all the easily assimilated sugars are depleted. Thus, CO2 is produced at a constant rate typical of the nonlagging phenotype.

REFERENCES

1.
Attfield P. V. Stress tolerance: the key to effective strains of industrial baker’s yeast. Nat. Biotechnol. 15 1997 1351 -1357
2.
Bell P. J. L., Bissinger P. H., Evans R. J., and Dawes I. W. A two-reporter gene system for the analysis of bi-directional transcription from the divergent MAL6T-MAL6S promoter in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Curr. Genet. 28 1995 441 -446
3.
Bell P. J. L., Higgins V. J., Dawes I. W., and Bissinger P. H. Tandemly repeated 147 bp elements cause structural and functional variation in divergent MAL promoters of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Yeast 13 1997 1135 -1144
4.
Beudeker R. F., Van Dam H. W., Van Der Plaat J. B., and Vellenga K. Developments in baker’s yeast production Yeast biotechnology and biocatalysis. Varachtert H. and De Mot R. 1990 103 -146 Marcel Dekker, Inc. New York, N.Y
5.
Bradford M. M. A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein-dye binding. Anal. Biochem. 72 1976 248 -254
6.
Burrows S. Baker’s yeast. Econ. Microbiol. 4 1979 31 -64
7.
Charron M. J. and Michels C. A. The constitutive, glucose-repression-insensitive mutation of the yeast MAL4 locus is an alteration of the MAL43 gene. Genetics 115 1987 23 -31
8.
Charron M. J., Read E., Haut S. R., and Michels C. A. Molecular evolution of the telomere-associated MAL loci of Saccharomyces. Genetics 122 1989 307 -316
9.
Cohen J. D., Goldenthal M. J., Buchferer B., and Marmur J. Mutational analysis of the MAL1 locus of Saccharomyces: identification and functional characterization of three genes. Mol. Gen. Genet. 196 1984 208 -216
10.
Dubin R. A., Needleman R. B., Gossett D., and Michels C. A. Identification of the structural gene encoding maltase within the MAL6 locus of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J. Bacteriol. 164 1985 605 -610
11.
Dubin R. A., Charron M. J., Haut S. R., Needleman R. B., and Michels C. A. Constitutive expression of the maltose fermentative enzymes in Saccharomyces carlsbergensis is dependent upon the mutational activation of a nonessential homolog of MAL63. Mol. Cell. Biol. 8 1988 1027 -1035
12.
Federoff H. J., Eccleshall T. R., and Marmur J. Regulation of maltose synthesis in Saccharomyces carlsbergensis. J. Bacteriol. 154 1983 1301 -1308
13.
Gjermansen C. and Sigsgaard P. Construction of a hybrid brewing strain of Saccharomyces carlsbergensis by mating of meiotic segregants. Carlsberg. Res. Commun. 46 1981 1 -11
14.
Goldenthal M. J., Vanoni M., Buchferer B., and Marmur J. Regulation of MAL gene expression in yeast: gene dosage effect. Mol. Gen. Genet. 209 1987 508 -517
15.
Grylls F. S. M. and Harrison J. S. Adaptation of yeast to maltose fermentation. Nature 178 1956 1471 -1472
16.
Hadfield C., Jordan B. E., Mount R. C., Pretorius G. H., and Burak E. G418-resistance as a dominant marker and reporter for gene expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Curr. Genet. 18 1990 303 -313
17.
Kahn N. A. and Eaton N. R. Genetic control of maltase formation in yeast. I. Strains producing high and low basal levels of enzyme. Mol. Gen. Genet. 112 1971 317 -322
18.
Kim J. and Michels C. A. The MAL63 gene of Saccharomyces encodes a cysteine-zinc finger protein. Curr. Genet. 14 1988 319 -323
19.
Kodama Y., Fukui N., Ashikari T., and Shibano Y. Improvement of maltose fermentation efficiency: constitutive expression of MAL genes in brewing yeasts. J. Am. Soc. Brew. Chem. 53 1995 24 -29
20.
Langel P. and Wohrmann K. The selective advantage of inducible maltase in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). Genetica 57 1981 105 -111
21.
Levine J., Tanouye L., and Michels C. A. The UAS(MAL) is a bidirectional promoter element required for the expression of both the MAL61 and MAL62 genes of the Saccharomyces MAL6 locus. Curr. Genet. 22 1992 181 -189
22.
Lucero P., Herweijer M., and Lagunas R. Catabolite inactivation of the yeast maltose transporter is due to proteolysis. FEBS Lett. 333 1993 165 -168
23.
Miller J. H. Experiments in molecular genetics. 1972 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y
24.
Myers D. K., Lawler D. T. M., and Attfield P. V. Influence of invertase activity and glycerol synthesis and retention on fermentation of media with a high sugar concentration by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 63 1997 145 -150
25.
Myers D. K., Joseph V. M., Pehm S., Galvagno M., and Attfield P. V. Loading of Saccharomyces cerevisiae with glycerol leads to enhanced fermentation in sweet bread doughs. Food Microbiol. 15 1998 51 -58
26.
Naumov G. I., Naumova E. S., and Michels C. A. Genetic variation of the repeated MAL loci in natural populations of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Saccharomyces paradoxus. Genetics 136 1994 803 -812
27.
Needleman R. B. and Michels C. A. Repeated family of genes controlling maltose fermentation in Saccharomyces carlsbergensis. Mol. Cell. Biol. 3 1983 796 -802
28.
Needleman R. B., Kaback D. B., Dubin R. A., Perkins E. L., Rosenberg N. G., Sutherland K. A., Forrest D. B., and Michels C. A. MAL6 of Saccharomyces: a complex genetic locus containing three genes required for maltose fermentation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 81 1984 2811 -2815
29.
Oda Y. and Ouchi K. Maltase genes and α-glucosidase activities: their effects on the dough-leavening. Yeast 5 1989 S125 -S139
30.
Oda Y. and Ouchi K. Role of the yeast maltose fermentation genes in CO2 production rate from sponge dough. Food Microbiol. 7 1990 43 -47
31.
Oliver S. Classical yeast biotechnology Saccharomyces. Biotechnology handbooks vol 4. Tuite M. F. and Oliver S. G. 1991 213 -248 Plenum Press London
32.
Osinga K. A., Renniers A. C. H. M., Welbergen J. W., Roobol R. H., and van der Wilden W. Maltose fermentation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Yeast 5 1989 S207–S212 (Special issue. April Seventh International Symposium on Yeasts.)
33.
Ponte J. G. and Reed G. Bakery foods Prescott and Dunns industrial microbiology 4th ed. Reed G. 1982 246 -292 AVI Publishing Co., Inc. Westport, Conn
34.
Potus J., Poiffait A., and Drapron R. Influence of dough-making conditions on the concentration of individual sugars and their utilisation during fermentation. Cereal Chem. 71 1994 505 -508
35.
Randez-Gil F. and Sanz P. Construction of industrial baker’s yeast strains able to assimilate maltose under catabolite repression conditions. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 42 1994 581 -586
36.
Reed G. and Nagodawithana T. W. Yeast technology 2nd ed. 1991 Van Nostrand Reinhold New York, N.Y
37.
Rodicio R. and Zimmermann F. K. Cloning of maltase regulatory genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Curr. Genet. 9 1985 539 -545
38.
Serrano R. Energy requirements for maltose transport in yeast. Eur. J. Biochem. 80 1977 97 -102
39.
Struhl K., Stinchcomb D. T., Scherer S., and Davis R. W. High-frequency transformation of yeast: autonomous replication of hybrid DNA molecules. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 76 1979 1035 -1039
40.
Trivedi N. B., Jacobson G. K., and Tesch W. Baker’s yeast. Crit. Rev. Biotechnol. 4 1986 75 -110
41.
Zimmermann F. K. and Eaton N. R. Genetics of induction and catabolite repression of maltase synthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol. Gen. Genet. 134 1974 261 -272

Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

cover image Applied and Environmental Microbiology
Applied and Environmental Microbiology
Volume 65Number 21 February 1999
Pages: 680 - 685
PubMed: 9925600

History

Received: 29 June 1998
Accepted: 30 November 1998
Published online: 1 February 1999

Permissions

Request permissions for this article.

Contributors

Authors

Vincent J. Higgins
School of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics1 and
Cooperative Research Center for Food Industry Innovation,2 University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, and
Burns Philp R&D Pty. Ltd., Sydney, New South Wales 2113,3 Australia
Mark Braidwood
Burns Philp R&D Pty. Ltd., Sydney, New South Wales 2113,3 Australia
Phil Bell
Cooperative Research Center for Food Industry Innovation,2 University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, and
Burns Philp R&D Pty. Ltd., Sydney, New South Wales 2113,3 Australia
Present address: School of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 2109.
Peter Bissinger
Burns Philp R&D Pty. Ltd., Sydney, New South Wales 2113,3 Australia
Ian W. Dawes
School of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics1 and
Cooperative Research Center for Food Industry Innovation,2 University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, and
Paul V. Attfield
Cooperative Research Center for Food Industry Innovation,2 University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, and
Burns Philp R&D Pty. Ltd., Sydney, New South Wales 2113,3 Australia
Present address: School of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 2109.

Metrics & Citations

Metrics

Note:

  • For recently published articles, the TOTAL download count will appear as zero until a new month starts.
  • There is a 3- to 4-day delay in article usage, so article usage will not appear immediately after publication.
  • Citation counts come from the Crossref Cited by service.

Citations

If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. For an editable text file, please select Medlars format which will download as a .txt file. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.

View Options

Figures

Tables

Media

Share

Share

Share the article link

Share with email

Email a colleague

Share on social media

American Society for Microbiology ("ASM") is committed to maintaining your confidence and trust with respect to the information we collect from you on websites owned and operated by ASM ("ASM Web Sites") and other sources. This Privacy Policy sets forth the information we collect about you, how we use this information and the choices you have about how we use such information.
FIND OUT MORE about the privacy policy