skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Directed Evolution Reveals Unexpected Epistatic Interactions That Alter Metabolic Regulation and Enable Anaerobic Xylose Use by Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Journal Article · · PLoS Genetics
ORCiD logo; ; ORCiD logo; ; ; ORCiD logo; ; ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo; ; ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo; ; ; ; more »; ; ; « less

The inability of native Saccharomyces cerevisiae to convert xylose from plant biomass into biofuels remains a major challenge for the production of renewable bioenergy. Despite extensive knowledge of the regulatory networks controlling carbon metabolism in yeast, little is known about how to reprogram S. cerevisiae to ferment xylose at rates comparable to glucose. Here we combined genome sequencing, proteomic profiling, and metabolomic analyses to identify and characterize the responsible mutations in a series of evolved strains capable of metabolizing xylose aerobically or anaerobically. We report that rapid xylose conversion by engineered and evolved S. cerevisiae strains depends upon epistatic interactions among genes encoding a xylose reductase (GRE3), a component of MAP Kinase (MAPK) signaling (HOG1), a regulator of Protein Kinase A (PKA) signaling (IRA2), and a scaffolding protein for mitochondrial iron-sulfur (Fe-S) cluster biogenesis (ISU1). Interestingly, the mutation in IRA2 only impacted anaerobic xylose consumption and required the loss of ISU1 function, indicating a previously unknown connection between PKA signaling, Fe-S cluster biogenesis, and anaerobiosis. Proteomic and metabolomic comparisons revealed that the xylose-metabolizing mutant strains exhibit altered metabolic pathways relative to the parental strain when grown in xylose. Further analyses revealed that interacting mutations in HOG1 and ISU1 unexpectedly elevated mitochondrial respiratory proteins and enabled rapid aerobic respiration of xylose and other non-fermentable carbon substrates. Lastly, our findings suggest a surprising connection between Fe-S cluster biogenesis and signaling that facilitates aerobic respiration and anaerobic fermentation of xylose, underscoring how much remains unknown about the eukaryotic signaling systems that regulate carbon metabolism.

Research Organization:
Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC), Madison, WI (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
FC02-07ER64494
OSTI ID:
1338424
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1363955
Journal Information:
PLoS Genetics, Journal Name: PLoS Genetics Vol. 12 Journal Issue: 10; ISSN 1553-7404
Publisher:
Public Library of ScienceCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 67 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (88)

Evolved hexose transporter enhances xylose uptake and glucose/xylose co-utilization in Saccharomyces cerevisiae journal January 2016
Nutritional Control of Growth and Development in Yeast journal September 2012
Effect of auxotrophies on yeast performance in aerated fed-batch reactor journal October 2011
Efficient engineering of marker-free synthetic allotetraploids of Saccharomyces journal April 2016
Rational and Evolutionary Engineering Approaches Uncover a Small Set of Genetic Changes Efficient for Rapid Xylose Fermentation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae journal February 2013
Target-decoy search strategy for increased confidence in large-scale protein identifications by mass spectrometry journal February 2007
The One Hour Yeast Proteome journal October 2013
Cytochrome c oxidase biogenesis: New levels of regulation journal September 2008
Transcription analysis of recombinant industrial and laboratory Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains reveals the molecular basis for fermentation of glucose and xylose journal January 2014
Yeast Mitochondrial Protein–Protein Interactions Reveal Diverse Complexes and Disease-Relevant Functional Relationships journal December 2014
Endogenous synthesis of coenzyme Q in eukaryotes journal June 2007
Dissecting yeast Hog1 MAP kinase pathway using a chemical genetic approach journal February 2007
Deletion of the GRE3 Aldose Reductase Gene and Its Influence on Xylose Metabolism in Recombinant Strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Expressing the xylA and XKS1 Genes journal December 2001
Glucose repression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae journal July 2015
Involvement of distinct G-proteins, Gpa2 and Ras, in glucose-and intracellular acidification-induced cAMP signalling in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae journal June 1998
Towards industrial pentose-fermenting yeast strains journal February 2007
Whole Genome, Whole Population Sequencing Reveals That Loss of Signaling Networks Is the Major Adaptive Strategy in a Constant Environment journal November 2013
Function and biogenesis of iron–sulphur proteins journal August 2009
Delayed Turnover of Unphosphorylated Ssk1 during Carbon Stress Activates the Yeast Hog1 Map Kinase Pathway journal September 2015
Regulation of xylose metabolism in recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae journal January 2008
Ssa1p chaperone interacts with the guanine nucleotide exchange factor of ras Cdc25p and controls the cAMP pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae journal November 1998
Purification and partial characterization of an aldo-keto reductase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. journal January 1995
Characterization of the xylose-transporting properties of yeast hexose transporters and their influence on xylose utilization journal September 2002
Functional analysis of the hexose transporter homologueHXT5 inSaccharomyces cerevisiae journal January 2001
Comparative Genomics of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Natural Isolates for Bioenergy Production journal September 2014
Anaerobic Xylose Fermentation by Recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae Carrying XYL1, XYL2, and XKS1 in Mineral Medium Chemostat Cultures journal August 2000
SNF1/AMPK pathways in yeast journal January 2008
How Saccharomyces Responds to Nutrients journal December 2008
The Kelch Proteins Gpb1 and Gpb2 Inhibit Ras Activity via Association with the Yeast RasGAP Neurofibromin Homologs Ira1 and Ira2 journal June 2006
Pathway connectivity and signaling coordination in the yeast stress‐activated signaling network journal November 2014
Function and Regulation of Yeast Hexose Transporters journal September 1999
Coordination of Growth Rate, Cell Cycle, Stress Response, and Metabolic Activity in Yeast journal January 2008
MaxQuant enables high peptide identification rates, individualized p.p.b.-range mass accuracies and proteome-wide protein quantification journal November 2008
Metabolic remodeling in frataxin-deficient yeast is mediated by Cth2 and Adr1 journal December 2013
Evolutionary engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for efficient aerobic xylose consumption journal April 2012
The SAP, a new family of proteins, associate and function positively with the SIT4 phosphatase. journal June 1996
Glucose Signaling in Saccharomyces cerevisiae journal March 2006
The HOG MAP kinase pathway is required for the induction of methylglyoxal-responsive genes and determines methylglyoxal resistance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Role of the HOG MAP kinase pathway in the response to methylglyoxal journal February 2005
A novel regulator of G protein signalling in yeast, Rgs2, downregulates glucose-activation of the cAMP pathway through direct inhibition of Gpa2 journal October 1999
High-efficiency yeast transformation using the LiAc/SS carrier DNA/PEG method journal January 2007
Yeast metabolic engineering for hemicellulosic ethanol production journal June 2009
Stress-related challenges in pentose fermentation to ethanol by the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae journal February 2011
Exploring the Mode-of-Action of Bioactive Compounds by Chemical-Genetic Profiling in Yeast journal August 2006
Accurate Proteome-wide Label-free Quantification by Delayed Normalization and Maximal Peptide Ratio Extraction, Termed MaxLFQ journal June 2014
Coordination of Gene Expression and Growth-Rate in Natural Populations of Budding Yeast journal February 2014
Combining inhibitor tolerance and D-xylose fermentation in industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae for efficient lignocellulose-based bioethanol production journal January 2013
Mitochondria-mediated nuclear mutator phenotype in Saccharomyces cerevisiae journal July 2003
A new efficient gene disruption cassette for repeated use in budding yeast journal July 1996
Mechanisms of mitochondrial translational regulation journal April 2013
Response to Hyperosmotic Stress journal October 2012
edgeR: a Bioconductor package for differential expression analysis of digital gene expression data journal November 2009
Genomic Expression Programs in the Response of Yeast Cells to Environmental Changes journal December 2000
A Heme-Sensing Mechanism in the Translational Regulation of Mitochondrial Cytochrome c Oxidase Biogenesis journal December 2012
Formation of the Redox Cofactor Centers during Cox1 Maturation in Yeast Cytochrome Oxidase journal December 2009
Cluster analysis and display of genome-wide expression patterns journal December 1998
Two glucose transporters in Saccharomyces cerevisiae are glucose sensors that generate a signal for induction of gene expression. journal October 1996
Sequence-specific Interaction between Mitochondrial Fe-S Scaffold Protein Isu and Hsp70 Ssq1 Is Essential for Their in Vivo Function journal April 2004
Protein phosphatase 2A on track for nutrient-induced signalling in yeast journal February 2002
Homeostatic Adjustment and Metabolic Remodeling in Glucose-limited Yeast Cultures journal May 2005
An evolutionary perspective on the Crabtree effect journal October 2014
Disruption of PHO13 improves ethanol production via the xylose isomerase pathway journal January 2016
Three genes whose expression is induced by stress inSaccharomyces cerevisiae journal July 1999
The Saccharomyces cerevisiae AMPK, Snf1, Negatively Regulates the Hog1 MAPK Pathway in ER Stress Response journal September 2015
Fast gapped-read alignment with Bowtie 2 journal March 2012
The Reference Genome Sequence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae : Then and Now journal December 2013
Complex Physiology and Compound Stress Responses during Fermentation of Alkali-Pretreated Corn Stover Hydrolysate by an Escherichia coli Ethanologen journal March 2012
Xylose-induced dynamic effects on metabolism and gene expression in engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae in anaerobic glucose-xylose cultures journal October 2015
S. cerevisiae genes IRA1 and IRA2 encode proteins that may be functionally equivalent to mammalian ras GTPase activating protein journal March 1990
The Genome Analysis Toolkit: A MapReduce framework for analyzing next-generation DNA sequencing data journal July 2010
The early steps of glucose signalling in yeast journal July 2008
Designer deletion strains derived fromSaccharomyces cerevisiae S288C: A useful set of strains and plasmids for PCR-mediated gene disruption and other applications journal January 1998
In Vivo and in Vitro Phosphorylation of Two Isoforms of Yeast Pyruvate Kinase by Protein Kinase A journal June 2002
The Novel Yeast PAS Kinase Rim15 Orchestrates G0-Associated Antioxidant Defense Mechanisms journal April 2004
Nutrient sensing and signaling in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae journal March 2014
Genome Sequence and Analysis of a Stress-Tolerant, Wild-Derived Strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Used in Biofuels Research journal April 2016
Metabolic Activation of the HOG MAP Kinase Pathway by Snf1/AMPK Regulates Lipid Signaling at the Golgi: Metabolic Regulation Golgi PI(4)P journal September 2012
Death by a thousand cuts: the challenges and diverse landscape of lignocellulosic hydrolysate inhibitors journal March 2014
Evidence for a conserved system for iron metabolism in the mitochondria of Saccharomyces cerevisiae journal August 1999
Pervasive genetic hitchhiking and clonal interference in forty evolving yeast populations journal July 2013
Engineering Saccharomyces cerevisiae for efficient anaerobic xylose fermentation: Reflections and perspectives journal December 2011
Glucose-Induced Stimulation of the Ras-cAMP Pathway in Yeast Leads to Multiple Phosphorylations and Activation of 6-Phosphofructo-2-kinase journal May 2003
The glucose signaling network in yeast journal November 2013
Engineering and Two-Stage Evolution of a Lignocellulosic Hydrolysate-Tolerant Saccharomyces cerevisiae Strain for Anaerobic Fermentation of Xylose from AFEX Pretreated Corn Stover journal September 2014
A genetic overhaul of Saccharomyces cerevisiae 424A(LNH-ST) to improve xylose fermentation journal August 2010
Strain engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for enhanced xylose metabolism journal November 2013
Saccharomyces cerevisiae Ras/cAMP pathway controls post-diauxic shift element-dependent transcription through the zinc finger protein Gis1 journal June 2000
Evolutionary engineering strategies to enhance tolerance of xylose utilizing recombinant yeast to inhibitors derived from spruce biomass journal January 2012
Development of a D-xylose fermenting and inhibitor tolerant industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain with high performance in lignocellulose hydrolysates using metabolic and evolutionary engineering journal January 2013