Genome-wide expression analysis of Saccharomyces pastorianus orthologous genes using oligonucleotide microarrays

The lager brewing yeast, Saccharomyces pastorianus, an allopolyploid species hybrid, contains 2 diverged sub-genomes; one derived from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Sc-type) and the other from Saccharomyces bayanus (Sb-type). We analyzed the functional roles of these orthologous genes in determining the phenotypic features of S. pastorianus. We used a custom-made oligonucleotide microarray containing probes designed for both Sc-type and Sb-type ORFs for a comprehensive expression analysis of S. pastorianus in a pilot-scale fermentation. We showed a high degree of correlation between the expression levels and the expression changes for a majority of orthologous gene sets during the fermentation process. We screened the functional categories and metabolic pathways where Sc- or Sb-type genes have higher expression levels than the corresponding orthologous genes. Our data showed that, for example, pathways for sulfur metabolism, cellular import, and production of branched amino acids are dominated by Sb-type genes. This comprehensive expression analysis of orthologous genes can provide valuable insights on understanding the phenotype of S. pastorianus.