Cytochrome P-450 inducibility by ethanol and 7-ethoxycoumarin O-deethylation in S. cerevisiae

The level of cytochrome P-450 and some enzymatic activity cytochrome P-450 dependent in a diploid strain (D7) of S. cerevisiae are affected by the substrate supporting growth and its concentration and, in particular, by the growth phase of the culture. For these reasons we tested the hypothesis that the induction of the monooxygenase system in the D7 strain when grown in high concentration of glucose depended on one product of glycolysis, ethanol. There was a strict correlation between the level of cytochrome P-450 and the ethanol concentration. Moreover we developed a sensitive test measuring the ethoxycoumarin O-deethylation in order to detect the enzymatic activity cytochrome P-450 dependent in whole yeast cells, in different growth conditions.