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Exploring Yeast's Energy Dynamics: The General Stress Response Lowers Maintenance Energy Requirement
Nuran Temelli1, Simon van den Akker1, Ruud A Weusthuis1
1Bioprocess Engineering, Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
Microbial Biotechnology
|April 4, 2025
Summary
The general stress response (GSR) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae significantly reduces cellular energy needed for maintenance, impacting microbial bioprocess yields. This finding optimizes energy-substrate distribution in low-growth systems.
Area of Science:
- Microbial biotechnology
- Biochemical engineering
- Cellular physiology
Background:
- Biotechnology processes often prioritize chemical or protein production over biomass.
- Microbial growth limitation is crucial for redirecting substrates towards product formation and enhancing yields.
- Under nutrient limitation, microorganisms like Saccharomyces cerevisiae activate a general stress response (GSR).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the hypothesis that the general stress response (GSR) reduces the maintenance energy requirement (MER).
- To assess the impact of key GSR regulators (Msn2, Msn4) on energy-substrate distribution and stress resistance.
Main Methods:
- Utilized chemostat and fed-batch cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
- Compared energy-substrate distribution and stress resistance in a deletion strain lacking Msn2 and Msn4 with a parental strain.
- Quantified maintenance energy requirement (MER).
Main Results:
- Deletion of Msn2 and Msn4 resulted in significant increases in MER, up to 85%.
- Maximal biomass yields, growth rates, and cell morphology remained unaffected by the absence of Msn2 and Msn4.
- The GSR was shown to reduce the energy required for cellular homeostasis.
Conclusions:
- The general stress response (GSR) plays a role in conserving cellular energy by reducing the maintenance energy requirement (MER).
- Understanding MER's role in low-growth processes is critical for optimizing microbial bioprocess design and product yields.
- These findings offer insights for enhancing efficiency in microbial production systems.
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