Short-chain and medium-chain aliphatic-ester synthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the enzymes which catalyse the synthesis of ethyl acetate, ethyl n-hexanoate and isoamyl acetate were partly resolved from a fraction containing slowly sedimenting lipoproteins released during cell disruption with glass beads. Solubilization with detergents and fractionation by affinity chromatography have demonstrated the presence of at least three, and probably four, ester synthases which differ in their catalytic properties. Isoamyl-acetate synthase was solubilized and extensively purified to apparent homogeneity by successive chromatographies on various columns. On the basis of its specific activity in cell-free extracts, the enzyme was purified 19,000-fold with a 5% activity yield. As judged by SDS/PAGE, it consists of a single polypeptide chain with a molecular mass of 57 +/- 3 kDa and its apparent pI is 5.5. The enzyme acetylates isoamyl alcohol, ethanol and 12-DL-hydroxystearic acid from acetyl-CoA but is unable to use n-hexanoyl-CoA as a cosubstrate. This enzyme, defined as an acetyl-CoA: O-alcohol acetyltransferase, could be the product of one of the anaerobically induced genes in S. cerevisiae.