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Updated: Jan 1, 2026

In Vivo Monitoring of Transcriptional Activity During Metabolic Transition Using a Bioluminescent Reporter in Yeast
Published on: February 21, 2025
5' untranslated regions: the next regulatory sequence in yeast synthetic biology
Yatti De Nijs1, Sofie L De Maeseneire1, Wim K Soetaert1
1Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Centre for Industrial Biotechnology and Biocatalysis (InBio.be), Department Biotechnology, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000, Ghent, Belgium.
Abstract:
When developing industrial biotechnology processes, Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker's yeast or brewer's yeast) is a popular choice as a microbial host. Many tools have been developed in the fields of synthetic biology and metabolic engineering to introduce heterologous pathways and tune their expression in yeast. Such tools mainly focus on controlling transcription, whereas post-transcriptional regulation is often overlooked. Herein we discuss regulatory elements found in the 5' untranslated region (UTR) and their influence on protein synthesis. We provide not only an overall picture, but also a set of design rules on how to engineer a 5' UTR. The reader is also referred to currently available models that allow gene expression to be tuned predictably using different 5' UTRs.
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