Transcriptional regulation of higher alcohol metabolism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Abstract:

Higher alcohols, major metabolic byproducts produced by Saccharomyces cerevisiae during winemaking, are intricately regulated by a multilevel system. While the enzymatic machinery and their encoding genes involved in the metabolic pathways of higher alcohols in S. cerevisiae have been largely elucidated, the transcriptional regulation underlying this process remains poorly understood. This paper, building upon a summary of the metabolic pathways and regulatory strategies of higher alcohols metabolism in yeast, focuses on the transcription factors Aro80p, GATA and Leu3p implicated in the regulation of higher alcohols metabolism in yeast and their mechanisms of action. The review aims to give theoretical insights into a comprehensive understanding of the transcriptional regulation of higher alcohols metabolism in yeast and facilitate the breeding of yeast strains with moderate production of higher alcohols.