Genome-wide screen identifies genes conferring sensitivity to the pollutant bisphenol A in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Bisphenol A (BPA), a widely used industrial and agricultural chemical, is a pervasive environmental pollutant with documented harmful effects on ecosystems. Though BPA is known to adversely affect plants, animals, and microorganisms, the precise molecular mechanisms underlying its toxicity remain poorly understood. To address this gap, we investigated the cellular response to BPA using the unicellular eukaryotic model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A genome-wide screen of the diploid single-gene deletion library (comprising 4741 non-essential gene deletion mutants) identified 108 strains exhibiting hypersensitivity to BPA. Functional categorization revealed that the corresponding genes are primarily involved in metabolism, cell cycle regulation, transcription, cellular transport, protein synthesis, and modification. Further analysis via high-performance liquid chromatography demonstrated that 34 of the sensitive mutants accumulated significantly higher intracellular levels of BPA compared to the wild-type strain. Our findings may provide systematic insights into the genetic determinants of BPA sensitivity in yeast and highlight various cellular pathways implicated in its toxic mechanism.