Positive Selection Evidence in Xylose-Related Genes Suggests Methylglyoxal Reductase as a Target for the Improvement of Yeasts' Fermentation in Industry

Author(s)

Borelli, Guilherme ^[1] ; Fiamenghi, Mateus Bernabe ^[1] ; dos Santos, Leandro Vieira ^[2] ; Carazzolle, Marcelo Falsarella ^{[1, 2]} ; Guimaraes Pereira, Goncalo Amarante ^{[1, 2]} ; Jose, Juliana ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Estadual Campinas, Inst Biol, Genom & BioEnergy Lab LGE, Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[2] Brazilian Ctr Res Energy & Mat CNPEM, Brazilian Bioethanol Sci & Technol Lab CTBE, Sao Paulo - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: GENOME BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION; v. 11, n. 7, p. 1923-1938, JUL 2019.
• Web of Science Citations: 1

Abstract

Xylose assimilation and fermentation are important traits for second generation ethanol production. However, some genomic features associated with this pentose sugar's metabolism remain unknown in yeasts. Comparative genomics studies have led to important insights in this field, but we are still far from completely understanding endogenous yeasts' xylose metabolism. In this work, we carried out a deep evolutionary analysis suited for comparative genomics of xylose-consuming yeasts, searching for of positive selection on genes associated with glucose and xylose metabolism in the xylose-fermenters' clade. Our investigation detected positive selection fingerprints at this clade not only among sequences of important genes for xylose metabolism, such as xylose reductase and xylitol dehydrogenase, but also in genes expected to undergo neutral evolution, such as the glycolytic gene phosphoglycerate mutase. In addition, we present expansion, positive selection marks, and convergence as evidence supporting the hypothesis that natural selection is shaping the evolution of the little studied methylglyoxal reductases. We propose a metabolic model suggesting that selected codons among these proteins caused a putative change in cofactor preference from NADPH to NADH that alleviates cellular redox imbalance. These findings provide a wider look into pentose metabolism of yeasts and add this previously overlooked piece into the intricate puzzle of oxidative imbalance. Although being extensively discussed in evolutionary works the awareness of selection patterns is recent in biotechnology researches, rendering insights to surpass the reached status quo in many of its subareas. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/08293-7 - CCES - Center for Computational Engineering and Sciences
• Grantee: Munir Salomao Skaf
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Research, Innovation and Dissemination Centers - RIDC
• FAPESP's process: 17/07008-8 - Characterization of novel putative xylose transporters of Spathaspora passalidarum and heterologous expression in an industrial strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae
• Grantee: Mateus Bernabe Fiamenghi
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• FAPESP's process: 15/05578-6 - Prospecting genes of xylose metabolism of yeasts isolated from brazilian plague insects and functional expression in industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeasts strains
• Grantee: Guilherme Borelli
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• FAPESP's process: 17/08519-6 - Development of a genomic atlas for rational engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae aiming second-generation ethanol production
• Grantee: Leandro Vieira dos Santos
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants