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Updated: Jul 13, 2026

Mitochondrial Respiration Quantification in Yeast Whole Cells
Published on: November 8, 2024
L-Arabinose transport and catabolism in yeast
César Fonseca1, Rute Romão1, Helena Rodrigues de Sousa1
1Centro de Recursos Microbiológicos (CREM), Biotechnology Unit, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, New University of Lisbon, Caparica, Portugal Department of Applied Microbiology, Lund University, Sweden.
Abstract:
Two yeasts, Candida arabinofermentans PYCC 5603(T) and Pichia guilliermondii PYCC 3012, which show rapid growth on L-arabinose and very high rates of L-arabinose uptake on screening, were selected for characterization of L-arabinose transport and the first steps of intracellular L-arabinose metabolism. The kinetics of L-arabinose uptake revealed at least two transport systems with distinct substrate affinities, specificities, functional mechanisms and regulatory properties. The L-arabinose catabolic pathway proposed for filamentous fungi also seems to operate in the yeasts studied. The kinetic parameters of the initial L-arabinose-metabolizing enzymes were determined. Reductases were found to be mostly NADPH-dependent, whereas NAD was the preferred cofactor of dehydrogenases. The differences found between the two yeasts agree with the higher efficiency of L-arabinose metabolism in C. arabinofermentans. This is the first full account of the initial steps of L-arabinose catabolism in yeast including the biochemical characterization of a specific L-arabinose transporter.
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