Identification of natural selection marks of the enzyme triosephosphate isomerase Saccharomycotina aiming at prospecting for industrial application.

• Grant number: 22/01549-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2022
• End date: January 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Molecular Genetics and Genetics of Microorganisms
• Principal Investigator: Gonçalo Amarante Guimarães Pereira
• Grantee: Júlia Anália Oliveira Hansen
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In a scenario of need to combat global warming, second generation etanol has proved an important alternative to the use of fossil fuels. The use of surgane bagasse and straw, also known as types of lignocellulose biomass, in the production process of this biofuel releases sugars (especially xylose) that are not naturally consumed by industrial yeasts. A previous work, when investigating genes that can help in xylose fermentation, found positive selection marks in genes of primary metabolism, especially the enzyme triose phosphate isomerase (TPI), essential in the metabolism of sugars. In this work, we propose to investigate the evolution of these proteins in a set of 180 yeast genomes, understand the consequences of this evolutionary process for the fermentation of biomass into biofuel and prospect possible candidate genes for bench testing in industrial yeasts.(AU)