Ethanol tolerance and membrane fatty acid adaptation in adh multiple and null mutants of Kluyveromyces lactis

The effects of ethanol and 1-octanol on growth and fatty acid composition of different strains of Kluyveromyces lactis containing a mutation in the four different alcohol dehydrogenase (KlADH) genes were investigated. In the presence of ethanol and 1-octanol K. lactis reduced the fluidity of its lipids by decreasing the unsaturation index (UI) of its membrane fatty acids. In this way, a direct correlation between nonlethal ethanol concentrations and the decrease in the UI could be observed. At concentrations which totally inhibited cell growth no reaction occurred. These adaptive modifications of the fatty acid pattern of K. lactis to ethanol contrasted with those reported for Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Whereas these two yeasts increased the fluidity of their membrane lipids in the presence of ethanol, K. lactis reduced the fluidity (UI) of its lipids. Among the different isogenic adh negative strains tested, the strain containing no ADH (adh0) and that containing only KlADH1 were the most alcohol-sensitive. The strain with only KlADH2 showed nearly the same tolerance as reference strain CBS 2359/152 containing all four ADH genes. This suggests that the KlADH2 product could play an important role in the adaptation/detoxification reactions of K. lactis to high ethanol concentrations.