Synergistically enhanced thermostability of Saccharomyces cerevisiae by ubiquitin-like protein mediation and heat shock response

To improve the thermostability and fermentation performance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to reduce the energy consumption of the cooling progress in industrial fermentation, the protein homeostasis was regulated through ubiquitin-like protein mediation and heat shock response. In this study, many heat-resistant gene devices were mined out from genes related to protein homeostasis and constructed with the regulatory device FBA1p, and then transformed into Saccharomyces cerevisiae INVSC1. Outstanding heat-resistant devices FBA1p-atg8 and FBA1p-hsp104 were screened through gradually increased temperature incubation. Compared with the control, the OD₆₆₀ of the engineered yeast strains S.c-ATG8 and S.c-HSP104 were both over 50% higher (84 h) and their cell viability were 1.64 to 3.01 times higher (72 h) when cultured at 40℃. The physiological characteristics implied that the thermotolerant strains possessed better cell wall integrity and higher trehalose content. In order to strengthening the regulatory mechanisms of both ubiquitin-proteasome system pathway and heat-shock responses within the network of protein homeostasis, atg8 and hsp104 were assembled to construct bifunctional engineered strain S.c-ATG8-HSP104, which showed better growth ability, stronger cell activity and higher ethanol yield at 40℃. The results revealed that the synergistic effect of ubiquitin-like protein and heat shock protein could enhance yeast thermotolerance and improve strain activity.