Characterization of novel putative xylose transporters of Spathaspora passalidarum and heterologous expression in an industrial strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

• Grant number: 17/07008-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2017
• End date: December 31, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Molecular Genetics and Genetics of Microorganisms
• Principal Investigator: Gonçalo Amarante Guimarães Pereira
• Grantee: Mateus Bernabe Fiamenghi
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Faced with problems associated with the use of petroleum derived fuels, the search for new alternative energy sources becomes a necessity. One research focus is ethanol production from sugarcane bagasse and straw. However yeast strains currently used on ethanol production do not consume the majority of the sugars from these new sources, since most of them are pentoses, being xylose the most predominant. Although many attempts have been made to engineer yeasts with economically viable ethanol yield, the process is still impractical. One important bottleneck to be solved is the higher affinity of glucose to sugar transporters than xylose, which reduces the efficiency of fermentation when both are available for consumption. Because of this, the search for specific xylose transporters that may exist in naturally fermenting pentose organisms becomes essential. One potential candidate for this search is Spathaspora passalidarum, a yeast known for its capacity to ferment xylose in anaerobic conditions, but that has most of its sugar transporters uncharacterized. In this project S. passalidarum xylose transporter genes will be screened for consumption tests in a S. cerevisiae strain with its own transporters deleted. The best candidates will then be utilized for assays in industrial strains for ethanol production. With this work, it is expected the acquisition of an efficient strain for xylose fermentation, and the finding of new patterns in genes that may indicate xylose transport features and that may help the search for new transporters in the future. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DE CARVALHO, L. M.; BORELLI, G.; CAMARGO, A. P.; DE ASSIS, M. A.; DE FERRAZ, S. M. F.; FIAMENGHI, M. B.; JOSE, J.; MOFATTO, L. S.; NAGAMATSU, S. T.; PERSINOTI, G. F.; et al. Bioinformatics applied to biotechnology: A review towards bioenergy research. BIOMASS & BIOENERGY, v. 123, p. 195-224, APR 2019. (16/05379-6, 16/02792-0, 17/07008-8, 17/13015-7, 13/08293-7, 14/26905-2, 15/06263-9)

BORELLI, GUILHERME; FIAMENGHI, MATEUS BERNABE; DOS SANTOS, LEANDRO VIEIRA; CARAZZOLLE, MARCELO FALSARELLA; GUIMARAES PEREIRA, GONCALO AMARANTE; JOSE, JULIANA. Positive Selection Evidence in Xylose-Related Genes Suggests Methylglyoxal Reductase as a Target for the Improvement of Yeasts' Fermentation in Industry. GENOME BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION, v. 11, n. 7, p. 1923-1938, JUL 2019. (13/08293-7, 17/07008-8, 15/05578-6, 17/08519-6)